pwaggoner@alamosanews.com

LA JARA — Anyone driving past the park in La Jara will see a brand new and unusually cool addition, recently built (literally) for the kids in town as part of a six-year-old’s birthday wish.  

That six-year-old boy’s name is Asher, and thanks to the nature of his wish followed by the work of his mother and father – Wes and Tamra Carraher – and a cadre of friends and family, this very unusual birthday wish came true.  

"For his birthday, Asher had a fundraiser,” Tamra says. “Instead of presents, he asked for donations to build a wooden train structure in the park in La Jara. All our friends and family know how much Asher loves trains, so it took a while, but we raised enough money to do the project.” 

Building the train required a little footwork first.  

"After getting permission from town officials and the appropriate permits and all of that, my husband, Wes, started building. It didn’t take too long. Wes is an independent contractor who can build just about anything. But he put special effort into this and finished it over the weekend.”  

The smile can be heard in Tamra’s voice. “I think it looks really good. Asher does, too.”  

The Carrahers haven’t always lived in La Jara. Tamra grew up in New Jersey and Wes grew up in La Jara but moved some years ago. He and Tamra met in Taos and ultimately moved back east where Tamra’s family lived.  

When Wes’ parents moved to Pueblo, he and Tamra came to La Jara with plans to clean the house and get it ready to put on the market. But when confronted with the reality that the housing market back east was simply untenable, they decided to stay in La Jara. Asher was 18 months old at the time. 

From an outsider’s perspective, a move from New Jersey to La Jara would be a pretty huge culture shock at multiple levels. Carraher acknowledges that but prefers to focus on what they have gained. 

“We have friends and neighbors who have embraced us and especially Asher, and those relationships are so important and fulfilling. We couldn't have built the train or Makers [a very popular summer program she started last year] without them. They have been so supportive and truly have become family.’ 

Carraher pauses then, choosing her words carefully.  

“What we have struggled with more,” she says, “is finding peers for Asher and friends the same age as Wes and me to socialize with. Coming from New Jersey where people bar-b-que and gather together all the time…well, we haven't had that same experience here with people our age.”  

Carraher briefly laughs at what she just said. “I don't know if mentioning that will gain us any friends or peers.” But it's part of their truth, she explains. “There’s just a sense that if you want a social life for yourself and your kids, you have to be open to working for it. The train is a part of that.” 

Carraher grows quiet.  

“You know, it’s difficult sometimes to move to a place where people have known each other for years or even generations. It’s difficult to fit in and find your place in a community. Don’t get me wrong,” she quickly adds. “La Jara is a wonderful, friendly town and we're happy here, but it's also like a lot of small towns in that way.  That's just the way it is. 

“The fitting in part can be really difficult for kids, especially kids like Asher who isn't a typical six-year-old boy.  He'll walk right up to strangers - adults and kids - and start a conversation.” The smile returns to her voice.  “Not long ago, he even walked up to a man who was listening to music with his ear buds. Asher just sat down next to him and asked him what he was listening to.”  

Carraher doesn't say so, but it's a pretty good guess that some people in town might have been questioning why a family new to the area (although they had been there for four years) would do what they did. Perhaps some folks were even a little bit skeptical.   

The reality is that it often takes a long time for people who move to a small town to be accepted as one of the town's own. As research has shown, sometimes, people feel such identity with their town or are so fundamentally opposed to change such that the acceptance never happens. 

Another wonderful reality is that small towns are very different from cities. A project like the Carraher’s would likely never be allowed in an urban setting.  There would be concerns about precedents or discomfort with it being paid for with private funds or the expectation that the family would want something in return. 

Not so in La Jara.  

It always comes down to the why of a situation and, in this case, the why is very simple.  

A very bright, unusually outgoing little boy wanted his dad and mom to build a train in the local park where he could play, and other kids could play there, too. So, that's what the Carrahers did because, really, what better gift is there for a six-year-old kid than to make some new friends? 

Postscript. Monday morning, Carraher sent a message saying that she had been walking her dog the night before and saw a little boy she didn’t know playing on the train with his young mother.  

“I cried,” she wrote. “It was like watching the exact thing we wanted to happen, happen. And all the other fears went away, at least for a moment.”