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MAKING A DIFFERENCE. An Inspiration To Anyone Abi Owings has a famous major league brother. Her story of survival, dedication and her own success puts her in a league of her own. |
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Do you remember where you were on August 18, 2007? Diamondbacks pitcher Micah Owings sure does, because it was one of the biggest and most exciting days of his entire life. He was a rookie making his first appearance at Atlanta’s Turner Stadium. The day was significant for Micah for several reasons. Not only was he the star of the game with two home runs, the win on the mound and a total of four hits at the plate, but he did it all just 40 minutes from his hometown of Gainesville, Georgia. Which means his big day was witnessed by 50 family members and friends in the crowd, Micah’s parents and four siblings, including big sister Abi. "I will never forget that game," said the 26-year-old Abi, two years older than Micah. "Playing professional baseball was always Micah’s dream. And then to come home, to be in Atlanta and have a game like this …I was blessed to be a part of it." Micah’s star happened to be shining brightest that night, but each of the Owings kids is something special. Oldest sister, Becca, founded a Christian counseling organization. His brother Josh, 28, owns a sports training facility that has helped dozens of aspiring athletes make it big. Youngest brother Jon Mark is like Micah, a professional baseball player, and played minor league ball for the Rome Braves last season. As for big sister Abi, well, her horse show medals and trophies hold their own against her brother’s baseball awards atop their parents’ mantel. The blond beauty is also a model. And perhaps most significantly, she is a survivor with an amazing story of inspiration to share. But Abi doesn’t like to dwell on the random act of violence that rocked her world four years ago; she’d rather talk about the foundation of family and Christian faith that have helped her work through it. "I grew up in a fairy tale," she begins in her easy drawl. "We lived in a log cabin on the side of a mountain. There was a pool, basketball court, tire swings …" She and younger brothers Micah and Jon Mark showed extreme athletic ability at a young age. While the boys were on traveling baseball and basketball teams, Abi spent half of most months on the road showing quarter horses. For a portion of their childhood, the kids were home-schooled. "We did lessons from 9 until noon every day. The rest of the day was for P.E. My brothers went to the batting cages, and I went to the barn." They were all blessed with great talents, and were lucky enough to be allowed to work on them. "My parents gave us the tools to accomplish all we wanted. They always told us that if you have dreams, we’ll prepare you to be the best you can to pursue them." In fact, they shared each other’s dreams. Since they were kids, Abi and Micah have had a close bond. "Even though he’s younger, I have always looked up to Micah. Baseball is my life, too." When asked how many baseball games she attended as a child, Abi laughed. "Probably a million." The Owings’ idyllic childhood was tempered with hard work. Like baseball, showing horses is a sport where money matters. A good one costs tens of thousands of dollars, plus fees for trainers and equipment. With five kids to support on one salary, Abi and her family had to make sacrifices. "At one point, my mom and Micah and I cleaned my trainers’ house to pay for my lessons," she said. "I always had mediocre horses. Or abused horses. So I had to work harder than most." Abi also became a savvy businesswoman. "I would start with the least expensive horse, put a lot of work in to improve it, and then upgrade to a better one. Once, I traded a horse for another horse and a basketball court for my brothers." Starting as a novice at the age of seven, Abi eventually became a fixture at the top of amateur quarter horse shows. "As hard as my brothers worked in baseball, I worked as hard on my horses." In November 2003, as Micah was coming off a successful summer playing for the U.S. National Baseball Team, Abi finished in the top five of the American Quarter Horse World Championship in Oklahoma City. A week later, she quit. While going for a walk in a city park in her hometown, Abi realized she was being followed. The predator tailed her for four miles. Because she was in a wooded area, there was nowhere to go for help. So Abi called her brother, Jon Mark, on her cell phone. "I heard if you’re on the phone, a person is less likely to attack," she said. But it wasn’t enough; help couldn’t reach her in time and she was assaulted. She fought the whole time, which warded off a more serious injury. "In a moment, I went from being a vivacious young lady to someone who felt like life should end. I lost my purpose. I lost my independence. I was too scared to travel by myself, and that’s what my sport involved. So I sold everything – my horses, equipment. I shut down." What do you do when everything changes? It’s a question Micah is answering right now. After a breakout year that won him the Silver Slugger Award, he is transitioning from unknown rookie to Major League star. It’s a question Abi has spent the last four years answering. "You can choose to use it to make you better, stronger. To see each day as a blessing. Now, I cherish every family meal, every baseball game I get to attend. It could have been so different — he [the attacker] could have had a knife. I could have hit my head on a rock. I am blessed that these things didn’t happen. I am blessed to be alive." Abi is also using her ordeal to inspire others. Under the umbrella of Lord’s Way Ministries, her sister’s Christian counseling center, Abi has started Always Moving On, a foundation to help victims and their families. Coincidentally, funding for the foundation was approved in August 2005, on the same day that her attacker was sentenced to eight years in prison for assault and battery and attempted rape. "Most people don’t have the strong family that I had. I want to help other people by inspiring them with my story, help them fight for a better life." Today, in addition to running her foundation, you’ll find Abi jetting across the country as a print and promotional model for Fortune 500 companies. You’ll also find her doing what she did as a kid — cheering on her brothers at their baseball games. "I try to book work in the cities where Micah is pitching," especially the Valley, she said. "I love the desert. I really enjoy the people. People in Arizona enjoy their days. They seem happy." Abi says that people at Oregano’s and their other Old Town Scottsdale haunts didn’t often recognize Micah last season. After the success of his rookie year though, this is likely to change. But he doesn’t crave the spotlight. "Micah’s still a humble guy who loves to go fishing." Just as Abi is still a humble girl who loves horses. She’s busy training Certified Rose on Fire, a prospect with great bloodlines that will hit the show circuit this spring. Abi buys horses when they’re a year or two old, trains them for a couple years, then sells them. "Sometimes it works out better than the stock market, sometimes it doesn’t." After a more than three-year break, she competed in her first amateur quarter horse show last July. "Everyone asked where I’d been, why I’d walked away. I just said I had some tough stuff happen in my life." Abi is also using her experience to help a 12-year-old girl aspiring to win the Quarter Horse World Championship, just as Abi was at her age. The two train their horses together three days a week. "She’s had a rough life and I see a little of me in her — a broken person who didn’t have a lot to live for. I’m working to create hope in her." There is no greater gift than hope, Abi says. As skilled as the Owings are at racking up successes and statistics, they are every bit as good at counting their blessings. |
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