(Tom) This week on Arizona Illustrated, meet a Vail school teacher whose journey back to work is an inspiration to us all.

(Keith) I was encouraging her to go back when she was ready.

I knew mentally and emotionally that would be the best thing for her.

(Tom) Explore the geological marvel that is Texas Canyon like never before.

(Lyn) The rocks create a fantastic opportunity for habitat diversity.

(Tom) Some Tucson fighters you do not want to mess with.

(Isabelle) Boxing has been the only safe place for a lot of people.

(Tom) And how one artist is learning to see things from the other side.

(Rebecca) The journey is really about moving beyond fear.

Hello and welcome to Arizona Illustrated.

I'm Tom McNamara.

First up, Vail is a tightknit community 24 miles southeast of Tucson.

And you're about to meet a beloved teacher there who's navigating her new normal.

You see what she thought was a routine kidney stone turned out to be sepsis.

And it threw her into a fight for her life.

♪ SOLEMN MUSIC (Lisa) You need your Chromebook, your notebook, and your pencil.

(Lainie) At Esme Station, we have about 750 students, kindergarten through eighth grade.

If the environment changes or something, then they could go extinct.

Is that what I'm hearing?

(Lainie) Teachers who are classified staff at Esmond Station are so caring.

They love each other.

They love our students.

They want them to find success, and they're usually really there for them.

(Lisa) The organism can adapt.

That somewhere in the genes it goes-- (Speaker 1) I've known Lisa for five years.

(...) environment's different, we need to change.

And-- I remember interviewing her and thinking, "Should we just run out into the parking lot and be like, 'Hey Lisa, come be our science teacher.'"

She loved science and she loved middle school students.

And you could tell that she was going to have wonderful connections with them.

(Lisa) Go ahead and discuss with your group.

I've been teaching for 20 years.

I've had multiple students throughout my career that made me realize that I was in the right place between students that I run into that are in college and tell me that they're getting a degree in engineering or getting a degree in physics and that, you know, eighth grade science was the place where they started to really, really enjoy science.

The best parts of my (Keith) The best parts of my marriage would be just our friendship.

We're definitely each other's best friends and we just enjoy hanging out and we don't need to go and do crazy things together or adventures.

I mean, we just enjoy being around each other.

Starting a family obviously was a big part of that.

(Lisa) For fun, we like to watch movies together, go up to Pine Top, Arizona to fish and go for hikes and play board games around the table up there.

So winter break of 2022, my husband and I went to bed exhausted as parents do on Christmas evening.

And I woke up in the middle of the night with pain in my left flank.

The pain was unmanageable.

And my husband said, "You know, we need to get you to the emergency room."

They, you know, said "It looks like a kidney stone."

They didn't find any sign of infection and sent me home.

(Keith) As the evening came around, she fell asleep on the couch.

She wasn't looking normal.

So I tried to wake her up and she wasn't waking up.

So I called 911.

(Lisa) Once they got me back to the emergency room, at that point, they--I was showing signs of sepsis.

(Keith) They had to kind of put her out, which I found out later it was going to be almost a two-week coma One of the head nurses told me to prepare for the worse and told me she wasn't going to make it.

They needed to administer vasopressor medications, but one of the major side effects is they can completely restrict blood flow to your hands and your feet and then cause tissue death, which is what happened in me.

But it was even a few days before I realized that things were black, you know, that things, that there was damage, that-that I had that amount of damage to the tissue.

(Keith) I also had two kids at home that I had to come home to.

I told them that-that their mom was sick and that she wasn't feeling well and she had to stay in the hospital for a little while and that was-that was the base of the story.

I remember the first time going to visit her and just thinking, like "Thank goodness she's here."

(Lisa) When I was released, I moved in with my mom because my house has stairs and then about a month after I was back in the hospital for amputation surgeries.

Once I got prosthetic legs and was starting to be able to stand on them for longer periods of time, I was able to go back to the rehab hospital for a third stay to learn how to walk on my prosthetics.

One of the first things I told my therapist in the hospital, she had asked me, "What are your goals?"

And I think the first thing out of my mouth was "I have to go back to my job."

All right, today your reporter is seat number four.

(Keith) I was encouraging her to go back when she was ready.

I knew mentally and emotionally that would be the best thing for her.

Once you open up the simulation, this is what the screen's going to look like, okay-- We do donated sick leave in our-in our school district, and the amount of people that stepped up and donated days to me kept me getting a paycheck the entire time that I was in recovery.

In the beginning, you know, I really felt like I got treated differently because of my disability as far as, you know, going into a public bathroom and people asking if you need help and those types of things.

You know, and really kind of felt like I stuck out like a sore thumb.

Going back to work and getting back into a classroom of middle schoolers that are who they are, whether you like it or not, I think has been the biggest factor in changing that for me.

When I'm at school, nobody treats me any differently.

I'll get more mobile.

I want to start taking walks around the neighborhood and the independents around the house get back to being able to cook some and prep meals and some of those last things that I haven't started doing yet.

To have such a life-changing event and just kind of keep it to myself, it-it felt like a waste.

We need to take these experiences and share them with people and maybe help people out with things that they need to overcome in their own lives.

Not everybody goes through what I went through, but everybody has hard things in their life that happen.

(Lainie) The biggest thing she shows middle school students who are going through just a tough time in their life, those middle school years is, "Hey, if I can do this, you can do anything."

Once you start the population, once the first generation occurs.

(Keith) And-and that's kind of what you know, this whole thing has taught me, is like we just have to look at it differently and if there's a problem, solve it and they would just keep moving.

And then they would have all started talking.

And it would've been bad.

[ LAUGHS ] Even though this happened to me and it's a huge challenge, my life is still really good.

I still have great people in my life that love me and that I love and, you know, I still have a lot of laughter and a lot of enjoyment and, you know, I think that's good for people to see.

Have a good day.

See ya.

Bye, have a good one.

See ya later.

One hour east of Tucson, right along I-10 is a geologic marvel.

But this granite boulder field could only be seen from a rest area until now.

The Amarind Foundation has created the Texas Canyon Nature Preserve and miles of trails so that individuals can explore this incredible landscape like never before.

♪ ATMOSPHERIC MUSIC (Lyn) Well, Texas Canyon is really special just because you do see this landscape when you go over I-10.

The rocks are what first draw your eye.

You go over to Texas Canyon and you say, "Whoa, if something weird is going on here."

But there's no way to get into it except on private property.

And so the fact that Amerind has this trail system that they've now opened to the public is really awesome because it gives visitors a way to actually walk through these rock formations.

(George) When people find out that I'm a geologist, the number one question that they ask is, "How do those boulders in Texas Canyon get there?"

Geologists have known for more than a hundred years that there are lots of granites in southeast Arizona.

There was not a tectonic explanation for why the granites were here until plate tectonics emerged in the early 70s.

When oceanic crust was subducted underneath North America 50 million years ago, it didn't go down its normal steep angle.

And so it slid under southeast Arizona.

And only when it came this far east did that slab, as we call it, penetrate the 100 kilometer depth required for granite to form through crustal melting.

The granite oozed its way up, granite cut by very regular fractures.

If we could explore our way through the granite, we would be exploring through cubes of granite.

The fractures are conduits for hot fluids that came in along the sides and base on top of the cubes and eroded chemically the corners.

To the point where when surface erosion takes over, the corners are completely rounded off and the cubes are transformed into spheroids and ellipsoids.

(Lyn) The rocks create a fantastic opportunity for habitat diversity.

This habitat is more Chihuahuan than Sonoran.

And it's also not really desert.

It's semi-arid grassland.

You get several species of oak.

Those are in the rocks.

And when you get down into the grasslands, that switches to mesquite.

We have 30 or more species of aster family.

We have lots of things in the bean family.

There's some really cool milkweeds here.

(Angelina) So I wanted to make baskets at the age of five.

I started weaving.

My mom was the one that taught nine girls.

We do a prayer for the people here that they allowed us to pick.

And also for our creator, who is taking care of us by providing those materials for us.

This is what we call Moho.

And it's bear grass.

It comes from this plant right here.

This is from the yucca plant.

That's the yucca plant.

The Takwi.

White Takwi.

We used to come on an annual basis.

And we'd go way out there.

And there's this big tree where my mom and my sisters, two of my sisters would sit.

While we're out there picking, that's where they're at.

And then they start putting them kind of in loose bundles.

Tumamoc Hill.

It's after the Oodham word, Cemamagi Du'ag Because they couldn't say it our way.

Tumamoc Hill, but that's Cemamagi Do'ag It's the Horned Tail Hill over there.

That one we call Hoi and that's where we get these from.

These are the roots of that plant.

And you have to dig in there to get these.

You have to be careful not to try to take all of them.

If you take too much off, you're going to kill that plant.

♪ ATMOSPHERIC MUSIC (Eric) We hired an amazing trail designer, Serena Rana.

She spent a couple years on this property walking every square inch so that she could lay out an amazing trail system that really takes you through this geology, the botany out here, and that really allows you to get up and close and personal with those formations.

♪ SOFT ATMOSPHERIC MUSIC T-town Boxing and Fitness in Tucson used to have a mere trickle of female members, but now they see a steady stream of women of all ages and backgrounds stepping into the ring, redefining strength, and challenging expectations.

The spirit of these women is proof that the ring is a place where everyone can find their fight.

Boxing is actually super philosophical.

You have these realizations because you're like, maybe in this moment in life I didn't protect myself like I should have.

I didn't have that exit strategy.

Boxing gives me the structure to strategize my own personal life.

I'm looking out for my own best interest, so that way I can grow and get where I need to get to.

♪ HIP-HOP MUSIC ♪ Boxing is very complex.

There's very specific intention with your whole body.

Like in ballet, you have your chin up, your hands, your arms, your posture, your legs, your feet.

And it's also really good for your brain.

You never get bored.

♪ HIP-HOP MUSIC I was overworked, it's like depression, anxiety, feeling unhealthy, and so incorporating boxing, it's helped me to be a better person and be healthier mentally and physically.

♪ HIP-HOP MUSIC Women deal with a lot, I think, growing up.

We're expected to be emotional or we're told that we're being too emotional or not emotional enough, a heroin chic, and now it's good to be curvy.

We all bring that as women into a boxing gym and have to kind of sort it out.

♪ HIP-HOP MUSIC Women who come to my class, there's an automatic level of comfort there in that we have the shared experience of dealing with all of these things that are quite unique to women.

♪ HIP-HOP MUSIC We've got a couple of new faces, so we'll just go through the punches.

It's never bad to go over the basics again.

There were a lot of things that were driving me towards what ended up being boxing.

And coming through with that hook, left hook.

Fresh out of high school, not really knowing what I was gonna do.

I found myself in a bit of a vulnerable place.

That was probably part of the drive to try something that would make me feel stronger, more confident, and then she'll slip.

People have naturally come to me after boxing for 16 years.

It's a long time to practice a skill.

And so I think because I'm approachable and kind and friendly, it's helped to make it a little bit more natural to be an instructor, but it's been really rewarding.

It's a very cool process.

It's also challenging.

♪ HIP-HOP MUSIC It was after the pandemic.

I had not done any exercise.

I gained 20 pounds.

And this gym, it was just convenient and easy.

Because at the time, I was 59.

I was like, "Are you sure boxing is for someone my age?"

And it talked me into it and just fell in love with it.

I remember when I was in my 30s, seeing women in the 50s in the gym and just wanting to keep that vitality in myself.

I initially started it for fitness purposes, but then when I saw that there was an opportunity for me to develop to a level where I could compete, it was a no-brainer.

I don't necessarily like sparring guys because it's like just a power difference.

A lot of times, you know, you're calling other gyms, "Hey, do you have a girl?

Give any time to me?"

So now we have a solid group of five or six that spar every single Friday, which is highly unusual.

So I'm forever grateful because it has developed me so much as a fighter, and it just prepares me so much more for competition.

One, one, two, flip, flip, three, two...

When I was in high school, I really didn't take it super seriously.

It was mainly just a form of exercise, but I remember someone had brought up taking it to the next level, and I was like, "No, like, there's no money in it for women."

And I think when I came back to it now as a 26-year-old, and now it's for the women, you can tell.

Small scale and big scale.

Nice and relaxed.

There you go.

Keep the right hand up.

I do want to shout out Jake.

Jake.

Jake, who's the owner of T-town.

He shows up for us every single week, no matter what.

So what I want you to do is I want you to triple jab coming forward and just keep this hand up.

He caters around your goal.

Trains all of us.

He's one of the only ones to ever like really believe in me.

I've been training with him for about 11 years.

He like really adopts to each person, which is amazing.

He created that space for us that now we've completely taken into our own and nurtured and are cultivating and get to appreciate every single week.

All right, go and relax.

Kiana, hop out, nice job.

It's a hard sport.

It's very weird to get in this ring and punch your friends and get punched by your friends.

Your community is able to tell you've had a rough day and they're there for it.

Sometimes you go in thinking you're going to do better and then you know you end up getting destroyed by your sparring partner.

You're just very disappointed in yourself, but like we lift each other up.

It's very easy to get discouraged, but everyone's very supportive of you.

If you want to get better defense, you have to have a partner who's pushing you.

We know how to work with someone that doesn't have a lot of experience without them getting freaked out or hurt.

But yeah, as someone develops and gets better, we go harder on them.

So yeah, it is definitely a level of respect.

It's like dancing.

Boxing is love for real.

It's consistency.

It's work.

It's soft and sometimes it's hard and it doesn't feel fun, but it is.

It's the process.

You can come in here and be serious and you can come in here and be silly and have a good time and have fun and everyone will respect that too.

If you want to lose weight, build muscle, be a little bit more confident.

If you want to spar, if you want to fight, if you want to compete, everyone shows up for their own reason and for everyone else's reason too.

♪ HIP-HOP MUSIC ♪ To be a competitive fighter, you have to have a community.

Sparring is like the most important part and that way, you know, when you step into the ring in a competition, you are prepared for just about anything.

Boxing has been the only safe place for a lot of people.

Their home wasn't safe or the adults in their life didn't look out for them.

So boxing and their coaches and their team, that's where you built yourself up.

It's so empowering and to feel safe that you can take care of yourself and it's something that I didn't expect when I started, but I love having that.

I love feeling strong.

You also emotionally get a lot of things out.

One, two, yeah.

After gaining and losing weight many times in very, very unhealthy ways, to have boxing and to have this like female team that we have here has been kind of my North Star.

I am surrounded now by women who support me and know what my goals are and to have that center, it all falls away.

It does cut out all of the noise.

This gym is my home.

Like we fight to protect it.

Besides my family, the realest people ever.

I'm just very thankful for this community and for the women who came before and for the women who are here now and for the women who have yet to show up.

We're waiting.

Good work.

Keep it up.

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What would you do if you were driving alone through the desert at night and you saw someone rolling a flat tire along the side of the road?

For artist Rebecca Wilder, that moment was not hypothetical.

She saw the figure, hesitated and then made a decision that would change her life.

She turned her car around.

♪ SOFT GUITAR MUSIC (Rebecca) My journey to being an artist really started with my mother.

She was a painter.

It was a big lesson for me because she had this little closet.

She could fit an easel in there.

There was an incandescent light bulb.

She would go in there and close the door.

There would be no windows, no light, just the light bulb.

And she would say, "Don't bother me unless one of you is bleeding."

As I grew older and I thought, "Well, I really can't paint because I don't have a studio," or "I can't paint because I don't have a teacher," or "I can't..." And then I would think of my mom and I thought, "If she could paint in a closet, I can paint anywhere."

I studied journalism and literature, and so I always thought that I would be going into journalism.

Graphic design, I did that for 23 years, 24 years, until I gave my notice to my husband, who didn't accept it right away.

Took him two years to accept my notice.

I started painting.

I am a bookmaker, so I started making books.

Now, I feel like all these different parts of myself, the bookmaking, the journalism, the writing, and the painting have come together.

People feel that adults outgrow illustrated books, but illustrations are another way in.

And even though the words are lyrical, the illustrations, I feel, really take it to another level.

My book, "The Other Side - El Otro Lado," is a true story.

It's about an event that happened to me.

I'm driving about midnight.

It's in the high desert of Arizona.

I'm heading back home to Nogales after having dinner with friends.

I pass somebody rolling a tire in the middle of nowhere.

And it's very cold, and they're only wearing a T-shirt.

My initial thought is, that could be me, because I really thought it was a woman.

I turned around to get a better look and then I saw that indeed it wasn't a woman, it was a man, still me but different gender, and I didn't know what I was going to do.

So to give myself time to think, I went and looked for the car, found the car, I had to go back many miles.

So I realized this person had been walking for a really long time.

I decided as I drove by him for the third time that I was going to stop.

And I rolled my window down just a few inches and asked him in Spanish, "What's the problem?"

I just wanted to give him a chance to talk to me.

I told him I was afraid he was going to hurt me.

He assured me he wasn't, and so I picked him up.

He said, "I'll hold the tire in my lap."

And I said, "Well, you know, let's put it in the back."

This story is about our journey.

Turns out he was equally as afraid of me as I was afraid of him Because I had passed him three times and he didn't know who it was and he thought somebody was going to hurt him.

The journey is really about moving beyond fear, fear of the Other, opening up trust.

I wanted to tell the story, Spanish, from his perspective and English from my perspective.

Primarily, I hope when somebody picks up this book to maybe see the world a little differently, or if it is how they see the world, to be inspired when they're in the same situation, you know, take a leap of faith, moving beyond the fear of the Other.

Luis Alberto Urrea says, "There is no them.

There is only us."

I just really felt like I needed to tell this story and put it out there that this is about us.

Very wide and complicated us, but about us.

♪ SOFT GUITAR MUSIC Before we go, here's a sneak peek at a story we're working on.

(Dana) Painting is a double-edged sword.

I've always been aware that it's a very seductive medium, and because it's such a seductive medium, I think it's easy to pull people in.

All of my paintings have to do with some sort of space and my place within that space, usually a more ambiguous, indecipherable space is what I'm interested in creating.

This feels natural, and yet they look so vastly different here than other times that I've seen them.

Thank you for joining us here on Arizona Illustrated.

I'm Tom McNamara.

We'll see you again next week.