Results for "hope"
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Children need heroes. They help kids cope with the world around them, providing a little bit of hope and a lot of entertainment. The classic heroes are always on the side of justice and compassion. They make things right no matter the odds. And in our world of uncertainty, our kids definitely need a bit of help keeping their balance and looking forward to a better future.
Even more, for some kids, the odds just seem to be stacked against them. They lie in hospital beds through long illnesses, away from playgrounds and classrooms where their friends can embrace them. Some kids will return to hospitals again and again as they go through treatments for cancer or kidney diseases that make them regulars. It’s a tough road, and the pandemic made it even rougher by limiting the number of visitors a child patient could see.
So imagine being a 6-year-old child in a hospital bed when Spiderman knocks on your window!
Having Spiderman close gives you the courage to face the coming days, and it certainly brightens the moment he pays you a visit. That’s why recently, for four hours, Spiderman and Captain American dangled from the roof of Le Bonheur Children’s Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee. The kids were thrilled. The staff cheered. And the parents cried. It was one of those magical moments when everything that’s right with the world converges into an explosion of emotions. Kids and parents find a little more hope, a little more courage. And healthcare workers find themselves smiling, a relief that has been a long time coming.
Farther south, another team of window washers also made their appearance as superheroes at a hospital in St. Petersburg, Florida, and the children were ecstatic. The distraction from their pain is beneficial to their mental health and even helps them heal faster. But most importantly, it makes them happy.
We can all be somebody’s superhero for a day, an hour or just a moment. Distracting someone from the pain they are feeling with a little something to cheer them up just might make their day. And you don’t have to dangle from a rooftop to do it.
Be Super... PassItOn.com®
In classrooms across the country, students returning to fall assignments find themselves befuddled by the most daunting homework assignment: write a poem.
It is not easy to bare your emotions in poetry. Many grade-school kids avoid exposing their vulnerabilities at a time when they are trying so hard to fit in. But under the gentle guidance of good teachers, they put pencil to paper. Some of them even dare to submit their work.
In central Pennsylvania, Public Radio station WPSU sponsors a poetry contest. Eager young poets with minds sensitive to their surroundings timidly bring forth their musings in hopes of a little attention, perhaps encouraging others to be reflective, too.
Kindergartener Allison Caron writes: “The sunshine lights up the flowers … / The moon shines on the cars. / The moon shine becomes a sun. / The sunshine lights up our new day.” In a simple verse, Allison captures the hope we all share for a bright future.
Second-grader Alice Rimland writes: “Why is the world so big? ... / Why is summer hot? ... / Why did I ever write this poem? ... / Life holds so much more than what’s in the near future. / Wonder awaits!” Childhood optimism is one of the great wonders of the world. It would do us all good to see our lives through the eyes of a child, seeking friendships and peace, warm days and wonder in every gaze. Imagine waking full of curiosity, impatient to throw ourselves into the magic of a fresh start.
Fourth-grader Poppy Goble writes: “High on the mountain, a meadowlark / enthralled by the beauty, bursts forth and sings. / All around the mountain his glorious voice rings.” Such observation elevates the heart. Poppy goes on to describe a change in the scene; a storm rolls in, and the meadowlark takes refuge under a tree. Each of us has our place of refuge. And each of us can be a place of refuge for others.
Sixth-grader Eveline Overdurf reminds us of how much we can do with a blank page: “First there was nothing / A blank page / Waiting to be a story / A story of dragons, of princesses, and lost princes / Or maybe it’s a story of change, of patience /… It could give hope, or give comfort / It could change you, or strengthen you /… All on a single page of blank paper a better world could be formed.”
Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Carl Sandburg is described as America’s poet. He brought forth emotions that helped readers of all ages see the purpose of life more clearly. “I believe more than I can ever prove of the future of the human race,” he wrote. And so we can, with ink and paper, make the future bright beyond imagination.
Do Write... PassItOn.com®
In 1992, the country of Yugoslavia was being torn apart. Warring factions created chaos in this otherwise beautiful city. On May 27, an explosion rocked a bakery in the city, killing 22 people and wounding 108 more who were in line to buy bread. The horrors of war were suddenly made manifest.
The following morning, as images of the war poured into living rooms around the world, Vedran Smailović put on his tuxedo, carried his cello and a chair outside, and sat in the midst of the rubble to play Albinoni’s “Adagio in G Minor” for those who had been massacred. He would return every day for 22 days. Some days, he was ducking sniper fire. But each day, each victim deserved a tribute to the life they lived and the unbearable way in which they died.
Modern war is a complex tangle of ideologies, power seizures and political maneuverings. It rarely respects the lives of the innocent. Smailović sensed that each individual in a society is worthy of respect and that, by seeking beauty through the arts, we find the language of peace. Throughout the war, he played in graveyards and at funerals, delivering hope to those caught in the machinations of power.
Artists have a unique role in our world, offering up their talents on the altars of civilization. They seek the beautiful and the honest, the truth of our souls and the courage of our hearts. In the turmoil of the American Revolution and its bloody birth, John Adams wrote to his wife Abigail: “I must study politics and war that my sons may have liberty to study mathematics and philosophy … geography, natural history, naval architecture, navigation, commerce and agriculture, in order to give their children a right to study painting, poetry, music ….”
And lest we forget what we have freed ourselves from, we should remember the image of the single musician playing a mournful tribute to each of us from the rubble of smoldering city, a reminder that there is hope, and it is embodied in each of us, carrying it forward like a banner promoting peace to all nations.
The Peace of Music… PassItOn.com®
We all hope to retire one day, enjoying a life of leisure and spending more time with family and friends. In their golden years, veterans of wars long past often reconnect with their combat pals to enjoy the forever bonds that come with military service and relax.
Not Captain Sir Thomas Moore, better known as Captain Tom. He had grown a bit bored during the COVID pandemic. His 100th birthday was approaching, and he was a little restless. So he decided to do a small walk for charity: the length of his backyard garden, 100 times a day, with the aid of a walker. He set a goal to raise a dollar for each length he walked.
As sometimes happens with remarkable events, the media picked up the simple story of a centenarian walking for charity. He appeared in his uniform for photo shoots, bedecked with medals earned in World War II. Back then, he spent most of his time in India and Burma as a member of the Royal Armoured Corps. His task was to set up a program for training army motorcyclists. In Burma, he survived dengue fever and, after recovering, worked as an instructor and technical adjutant in the Armoured Vehicle Fighting School. When the war ended, he came home, but he never forgot his comrades or his motorcycles. He raced competitively for years before settling into an ordinary life.
But when the pandemic hit, and Captain Tom was rehabilitating from a broken hip in isolation, he decided that he could cheer folks up and raise a little money for the National Health Service that was so badly needed during the crisis. He determined to walk every day, to encourage the world to keep moving forward, one labored step at a time.
He soon became a symbol of the fortitude the world needed. Each day he walked, viewers were inspired by the arduous steps that took him around and around his small garden. It was a simple act of courage, the straighten-your-back-and-carry-on message the country and the world needed. Millions of dollars poured in to provide the needed support for overtaxed health care systems. Queen Elizabeth knighted Captain Tom for his efforts, and his spoken words, along with Michael Ball singing “You’ll Never Walk Alone,” became a No. 1 single.
It was all quite overwhelming for Captain Tom, who said, “It has gone far beyond my wildest expectations. I want to thank everyone from the bottom of my heart.”
Captain Tom passed away from COVID shortly after his 100th birthday, a soldier and a servant to the end.
Exceed Expectations... PassItOn.com®
Will Rogers wrote: “I never met a man I didn’t like,” and that is how he lived his life. Born in Oklahoma as a member of the Cherokee nation, he once quipped, “My ancestors didn’t come over on the Mayflower, but they met the boat.” His affable personality and cowboy philosophy made him the voice of commonsense in politics and of hope during the Depression.
Rogers began his career in vaudeville after failing as a ranch hand in Argentina and having more success during a stint in South Africa, where he learned people would pay a little bit of money to see a cowboy do rope tricks. His fame skyrocketed in America when a steer escaped the ring at a New York circus, and Rogers skillfully roped it before the raging animal could climb the bleachers.
It was his matter-of-fact approach to life that made him so appealing, delivering dry aphorisms and witty observations about life and politics. “All I know is what I read in the papers,” he deadpanned at the beginning of each show, then went on to read headlines and offer up homespun logic: “Why sleep at home when you can sleep in Congress?”
Even with all his laid-back mannerisms, Rogers was one of the hardest-working people in America. He appeared in 70 movies and was on the lecture circuit from coast to coast. His weekly newspaper musings reached 40 million readers, and he wrote over 4,000 columns. He wrote a string of humor books and a longer column for the Saturday Evening Post. He traveled around the world three times, started his own production company and jumped into a weekly radio broadcast that also went nationwide. He was often a guest at the White House, no matter which political party was in power. He played to the fallibility of leaders and roped in fans as easily as cattle on his ranch. His broad smile, slack shoulders, hands-in-pockets posture and fatherly wink made him the person you wanted to talk to when you needed a take on the world that could get you through the day. “I hope we never see a day when a thing is as bad as some of our newspapers make it.”
In a world sensationalized by headlines, it’s good for all of us to recall those cowboy roots, no matter who we are. We should rise with the sun, put in a good day’s work, eat a healthy meal, brush the dust off a friend’s back, and go out and mend a few fences. Bringing a horse wherever you go is also a great way to break down barriers.
Rogers served as a goodwill ambassador to Mexico and traveled cross-country on a fundraising tour to feed Americans during the Depression. The affable cowboy and his sidekick horse put people at ease and helped them realize that moving into the future didn’t mean giving up on the lessons learned from the past.
“The good old days with most of us was when we didn’t earn enough to pay an income tax,” he reminds us. Yes, things are better today than they were yesterday, and tomorrow they will be even better.
Wit and Wisdom… PassItOn.com®
The Appalachian Trail is a rugged footpath that runs from Northern Georgia to Central Maine along the crest of the Appalachian Mountains. It passes through 14 states and all kinds of unpredictable weather. At age 21, Nick, an avid outdoorsman raised in Maine, decided the journey would be a good adventure. The trek takes an average of 6 months. Hiking 20 miles a day through the wilderness for 5 or 6 months will get you to a place you’ve never been before.
“I guess I wasn’t prepared for two things,” says Nick. “How hard sections of the trail were going to be, and all the small acts of kindness along the way that kept me going.” Those thru-hikers who complete the entire 2,200 miles talk about trail magic, little acts of kindness that happen at exactly the time they are needed. “I had been living on filtered water and granola bars for a month, my legs were aching, my body hurt, and I was having that once-a-week feeling of quitting. I came around a corner, and there was a bag of clementines hanging from a tree. A small thing at home, but on the trail, the taste of that fresh fruit was so amazing it kept me going for days.”
As Nick learned, the people who live in the towns that border the trail see it as a privilege to give. “People blindside you with kindness,” Nick says. They provide rides into town when hikers need to replenish. They open their homes to a fresh shower after months on the trail. And they offer encouragement to keep going.
Sweet oranges are one thing. But after Nick’s first two weeks on the trail, an unseasonable cold front hit Northern Georgia. Normal temperatures of 20 or 30 degrees Fahrenheit dipped down to 0, and the wind gusted through the branches above. Nick remembers doing situps in his thin sleeping bag all night to keep warm. “I got started early the next morning because I was so cold and had to get moving. I couldn’t feel my toes until noon. The next stop was a lean-to 20 miles away, and I decided that if the night was as miserable as the last, I would pack it in. It got dark, and really cold again. But when I entered the lean-to, somebody had brought up two down comforters---hiked the seven miles in from town hauling two comforters. I was so tired and relieved, I cried. I never slept better in my life.”
Nick would go on, experiencing small acts of kindness that motivated him and discovering that his own small acts of kindness kept others going, too. “When you have extra food, you share it. You share a campfire. When it’s raining sideways, you build a wall with rain ponchos. You work together. You encourage other thru-hikers to keep going,” Nick says. “Once you get through Virginia, you get this energy high because you know you are part of something greater that will support you. You learn to trust it. Not rely on it, just trust it. Your hope develops. And when it’s all over, you realize how great the people in this country are.”
Trail magic is kindness in action, kindness without being seen. Kindness that becomes the change we all need.
Kindness... PassItOn.com®
Kids these days. Seems they spend most of their time with their noses pointed at their phones or their eyeballs frantically moving to the flashes of video games. It’s easy to be a bit pessimistic about the future. But if you look closely, there are young minds solving major world problems.
Jahkil Jackson distributes “Blessing Bags” for the homeless in Chicago: toiletries, snacks, socks and other essentials. Jahkil started his work at 9 years old.
In Bali, preteen sisters Melati and Isabel Wijsen began a campaign to clean up the beaches and rid their country of plastic pollution in 2008. Bali is now plastic-free. But they are not done. They are now focused on the rest of Indonesia.
And speaking of cleanups, Ryan Hickman was 7 years old when he started Ryan’s Recycling. He collects over 200,000 bottles and cans a year from 50 customers.
In Sierra Leone, Kelvin Doe started bringing electricity and a community radio station to rural villages by making batteries and a transmitter out of recycled materials. He was 13 years old. Most importantly, Kelvin showed other children that they can make a difference. (Today, Kelvin is a songwriter and engineer, still working to inspire young people)
Teenager Boyan Slat has raised over $13 million for his project Ocean Cleanup that uses the ocean’s natural currents to collect plastic pollution.
At age 15, Ann Makosinski invented a flashlight that uses body heat for power to keep batteries out of landfills.
Kids around the world are raising millions of dollars for cancer research, literacy and environmental causes simply by running lemonade stands, sewing headbands and selling bracelets.
So the next time you get a little worried about what today’s kids are up to, rest assured they are using whatever resources they have to make life better for their generation, and beyond.
Hope... PassItOn.com®
When we think of 11-year-old girls and their mothers, the first things that come to mind may be tutus, soccer games, kitchen science experiments and crazy photo faces. There’s a special bond between young girls and their moms before life fills up with more demanding schoolwork, career choices and the stress of being a grown-up.
For Jordan Phillips, recently honored by The Gloria Barron Prize, taking on adult emotions came sooner than expected. Her mother was diagnosed with breast cancer when Jordan was 11 years old. The thought of losing her mother at such a young age must have been troubling for Jordan. But instead of waiting out the process on the sidelines, Jordan decided to join the fight against cancer so that other kids wouldn’t have to experience the angst she was going through. But how do you help when you are only 11 years old?
Jordan loves to sew. She wanted to make something to sell but also advertise the need to help. While trying to piece together a solution, she hit upon the ubiquitous coffee cup. Everybody seems to be on the go in the morning with their cup of take-out joe. So Jordan designed a coffee cup sleeve and created her nonprofit Cozys for the Cure. It was a hit. Today, Jordan has raised over $120,000 to help fund breast cancer research.
It all started with a desire to help. Each of us has the ability to make a difference, to pitch in, no matter how old or how young. “Cozys for the Cure has taught me that my passion and purpose lie in helping others,” says Jordan. “I’m excited to continue this project for years to come and to focus my career on leading companies that address social problems and create change.”
Jordan’s mother won her fight with cancer, but unfortunately, many more women and mothers will be affected. With kids like Jordan in their corner, perhaps the next best treatment will come a little sooner, save a few more lives, and mean mothers and daughters will have a little more time to have fun together.
Do Something Great... PassItOn.com®
Coming of age is that time in each of our lives when we begin to see the possibilities. The world opens up in ways that matures our vision, gives us a sense of responsibility and gratitude. Connor Thomson had just started college and loved being at that phase in his life where he could eat all the pizza he wanted, yet engage in adult conversations with his parents about the responsibility to make life better for others. Connor’s optimism was contagious. There was so much he could do, so much he could become.
But it all ended one night when Connor was distracted while driving in a Colorado canyon. A young man, who emanated so much light, suddenly went dark.
Connor’s father, David, took it particularly hard. A father sees more than his own traits in his son; he sees greater possibilities than he achieved. Taking that hope away left David feeling adrift. But Connor’s optimism was one of those traits passed on to him by his father. So David got to work.
First, he established the Honor Connor Scholarship Fund to reward students who served in the community. Next, he went to work creating a research-based curriculum that educates University of Colorado Boulder students and their families about the dangers of texting and driving. It includes a very simple three-part pledge: to not text or use social media while driving, speak out if riding with a driver who is distracted and encourage friends and family to drive phone-free.
David now collaborates with lecturers at various colleges and high schools, ensuring young minds understand how statistically at risk they are when they text and drive. He’s become a passionate advocate for preparing young people to drive safely and not impulsively reach for their phones while they’re at the wheel. “I just don’t want other parents to go through what I did when I lost Connor,” says David. “It’s just so preventable.”
While every constructive endeavor reminds David of the loss he suffered, he is encouraged knowing that more young people with so much to offer the world will be around to do good. “I get to be a part of what Connor would have done,” says David. “And that is a small consolation.”
Don’t Drive Distracted... PassItOn.com®
On a typical day, off the coast of a small Brazilian island, Joao Pereira de Souza was headed out fishing. He was disheartened to find that an oil spill had contaminated the waters. Staring out at the waves with their greasy sheen, he decided it was not a good day to fish. But walking the beach that day, he found a struggling penguin, covered in oil and starving.
Pereira took the penguin home, gently cleaned it and spent the next week nursing it back to health. He named it Dindim, a Portuguese word meaning “ice pop.”
Dindim is a Magellanic penguin, a species known for living in the seas of South America. In order to breed, they must return to Patagonia, 8,000 kilometers (5,000 miles) from Pereira’s home. Pereira patiently took Dindim back to the ocean and taught him how to swim again. Soon enough, it was time for Dindim to return to life in the wild. Pereira watched Dindim swim away, believing it would be the last time he saw him.
But the next June, Dindim returned. The two shared a tender beak-to-nose greeting, and Dindim stayed for a month, waddling around the fisherman’s house. The time to leave arrived, and Pereira thought this surely would be the last time he would see Dindim. But 11 months later, the penguin with a long memory returned again.
It is a common belief among scientists that animals have short memories. So a couple of them put a tracking device on Dindim to see if it was indeed the same penguin that returned year after year. To their surprise, but not Pereira’s, Dindim returned, year after year, for more than a decade.
Love and nurture create a bond so deep that we can’t always explain it. It’s just something we feel, something we long to provide. And when we do, it lasts much longer than we ever expected.
Pereira and Dindim share a bond that bridges human life and the natural world. Their friendship is hope personified.
Remember Your Friends... PassItOn.com®
Soccer is a passionate game. It’s one of the few sports where players are free to follow the flow as they play, being less constrained by a game plan and more dependent on their ability to communicate and create opportunities.
It’s also a worldwide sport, and fans are often just as impassioned as the players. At the World Cup, it is country against country. Emotions run high. National pride is on the line. And sportsmanship often gets lost amid the victors’ celebration and the disappointment of the not-so-fortunate. The 2022 World Cup was no different.
The Japanese national team has often seemed like outsiders looking in, as the European and South American teams have dominated world soccer for decades. So when Japan stepped on the field in the first round against powerhouse Germany, there wasn’t a lot of hope for the underdog.
Germany scored first on a penalty kick and fired several near-misses that would convince most fans that the Japanese just couldn’t keep pace with the Germans. But they did. Heroic saves and a relentless attack saw the Japanese team knot the score at one goal apiece. Then, late in the match, a pinpoint pass from midfield set up a two-touch strike, and Japan took the lead. They hung on for a historic win that had the whole world cheering.
With such an improbable and gutsy win, you’d think there would be pandemonium in the stands and in the locker room. Certainly, there were celebrations. But when the cheering died down and the stands were nearly empty, the Japanese team was tidying up the locker room. They swept and mopped the floors, folded towels and left thank-you notes to the host country. In the stadium, Japanese fans stayed behind to collect garbage and clean up the stands. While the win was totally unexpected, the show of respect and gratitude was even more so.
In sports, as in life, wins come and go. Triumphs and tragedies will always be part of our journey. But as the Japanese soccer team demonstrated, no matter the outcome, it is how we treat others that will be remembered most.
Respect... PassItOn.com®
Penny Doerge should have had a normal childhood, hanging out with friends and growing into adulthood before thinking about how she could change the world. But at an early age, Penny was diagnosed with neurofibromatosis, a condition that causes tumors and can lead to brain cancer.
The prognosis was not good. But Penny had a life to live and refused to live it in darkness. In fact, she chose to spread light to everyone around her.
During the pandemic, Penny created a series of small gatherings called adventure camps for the neighborhood kids. Each child had a COVID test at the door, and then the fun began. It was Penny’s way of creating connections to overcome isolation. For those who couldn’t attend, she made funny TikTok videos and shared her artwork for those who couldn't attend. She loved to use her creativity to make ordinary things beautiful.
When it was time for another surgery — she had 15 in all — Penny would go about it in a businesslike manner. No complaining, no crying, just get through it and get back to living. Her mother remembers, “Somebody said Penny was an actress and the world was her stage. She was joy personified.”
Her teachers remember her as a hardworking girl everyone wanted to be around. She was happy and beautiful and artistically gifted. And she used those attributes to lift others. “She was a little angel,” her grandfather remembers. “She was fun and happy. Penny taught us a lot.” Her father adds, “She taught us how to treat other people.
Sometimes a very special person comes into this life to remind all those around her what we should really be about. We should make time to create beauty, and to share it. Penny’s artwork made people happy. Her notes and videos made people forget about hard things and focus on good things. Her friendship brought a sense of hope to everyone who wanted to be close to her. Her pastor says, “Penny was and will continue to be a bright light for her family and friends.”
Penny died at the age of 16. “She made a choice to live her life with joy and optimism,” says her father.
That optimism continues to burn bright. Her family launched Penny’s Flight, a foundation dedicated to inspiring others to live life as she did, according to the family’s motto, “It’s not your lifespan, it’s your wingspan.” The foundation raises money for cancer research and also celebrates life by sharing the message: Spread your wings. Shine your light.
Comedian Jimmy Fallon and former NFL quarterback Eli Manning have picked up the torch of Penny’s cause. And so it glows. The brief life of a young girl touches thousands of lives and reminds us all that we can soar to new heights, no matter who we are.
Spread Your Wings... PassItOn.com®
In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, when the volunteers have moved on but the residents are still there, David parks his car beside an apartment building. The light is waning. The building is made of stone, one of the few on this side of New Orleans. He opens his trunk, drags out four grocery bags of food, closes the trunk with his elbow and enters the building.
It’s Wednesday, the day he regularly arrives after work. He doesn’t look back at his car. He doesn’t worry about it anymore. At first, someone would scratch the side of his door with a key or a rock every time he left it for the hour he was making visits. But the anger in the neighborhood has subsided, and he has become a regular. The scratches remain, and he just shrugs. It’s only a car.
The apartment building is home to four widows. They live week to week and look forward to David’s visits. He brings each a bag of food beyond the necessities, a box of cookies, fresh (not frozen) meat, cans of instant coffee, new dishrags and laundry soap. But mostly, he stays to talk.
They tell him that each storm seemed to take a little more of the neighborhood away. That people are angry at the world. That their community is trying to come back, but it’s taking some time. What they all miss is the sound of children playing in the street. They hope that comes back someday soon.
Cleaning up after a hurricane takes time. It’s more than pumping out the water and mucking out the mud. It’s more than replacing moldy carpets and furniture. A violent storm can test a community’s bonds. It leaves residents numb, with barely enough energy to take care of themselves, let alone help somebody else.
There’s always an initial push when they all clean up together. That first response is encouraging, life-affirming. But then the doldrums hit. The sails are no longer filled with optimism. David knows this. He has spent his life helping grieving people. So when he leaves the office on Wednesday evening, he stops by the grocery store, picks out favorite cookies and sauces, and drives to the apartment building where loneliness is a constant storm. He hikes up the damp stairs and delivers a smile, a hug, a long conversation and a few tokens of friendship.
This Wednesday, when David arrives at his car in the dark, a young boy is standing there. “I watched your car,” the boy says. “Nobody did anything.”
David looks at the boy and smiles. “You did something, young man. You did a good thing.”
The boy lights up. A little encouragement is rare these days; seems it, too, got swept away in the storm. Without warning, the boy hugs David, the tall stranger who quietly brings groceries to the widows and tells them everything is going to be all right.
And it is. Everything is going to be all right.
Encouragement... PassItOn.com®
Eliza Zenger teaches dance, music and arts to adults with disabilities. Their performance is the most beautiful you will ever see.
In an attention-seeking world where perfection is the constant pursuit, one group finds the truest form of pure emotion. At a performance of Utah’s LEADD (Learning and Engaging through Arts Discipline and Development) Adaptive Dance, Eliza leads a small ensemble of adults with disabilities in a performance that features musical instruments, dance, poetry and a choir.
The stage is matte black, with curtains pulled to the side and colored spotlights pooling on the floor. The accompanist is a Juilliard graduate who volunteers because she loves the authentic reaction to the music. The performers wear matching T-shirts and tights; they sit nervously together, hugging each other for support.
“I hope I remember everything,” Annie says, squeezing her mother.
“You will.”
Educators of those with disabilities have learned that self-expression through the arts connects their students in profound ways, opening pathways of trust and receptivity to learning.
“What is really beautiful is the relationships they build with each other and the connections they make with teachers and volunteers,” says Eliza. “I really love them. There is so much honesty and humanity.”
They dance to “You’ve Got a Friend in Me,” letting all that emotion out in both choreographed and spontaneous movements, personal interpretations of the words. They are not in sync with the music, but they are in sync with their emotions. There are hugs during the dance, and tears in the audience.
A reading of Shel Silverstein’s “The Giving Tree” leaves one young woman crying as she recites the last line. She bows her head and is consoled by two of her classmates. They sing a medley of songs, letting the words express what’s in their hearts. Not everything is on key, but the sentiment is in perfect pitch.
“They feel every emotion at a much deeper level than we do,” Eliza says. “Happy and sad.”
If you are looking for perfection, you find it in the lives of imperfect people. They dance to the tune of their own souls and sing straight from the heart.
“These are just beautiful human beings,” Eliza says. “And they have so much to give, so much to teach all of us.” It’s as if negative circuitry has been disabled, and if that’s a handicap, we should all be limited in such a way.
In a world of influencers, let’s take a step back and feel the true rhythms of life resonating from those who were born with far less pretense or prejudice than most of us may be susceptible to. Joy is the gift they share. Encouragement is what they offer. Love is the space they live in.
Joy... PassItOn.com®
Ask any first responder, and they’ll tell you the hardest calls you will ever get are those that involve a child. Many EMTs put their hearts on the line when kids are hurting.
That was the case when a call came into an Indiana station about an injured person. At first, it seemed routine. But when paramedic Rick Allgood arrived, he found a 7-year-old boy unconscious. He had fallen over a railing and landed hard on his head, fracturing his skull. Luckily, the adult babysitter was a nurse. Still, the boy’s siblings were in the room, and the situation could have quickly turned to panic.
Rick and other crew members calmed the children by explaining what was happening. One member took the children aside and reassured them while the others attended to their little brother, Will. In less than 10 minutes, the boy was stabilized and headed not toward the nearest hospital but to the best trauma center in the area. That calm decision under pressure saved the boy’s life.
The crew’s teamwork, their focus in a life-threatening situation for a young boy and their quick decision-making ability would be the most every parent would hope for in that situation. But the team also was touched by the family and concerned for Will’s health while Will rested in an induced coma, his parents wondering how different their boy would be when he woke up. A brain injury often means difficulty regaining speech and motor functions. It can present lifelong challenges. Knowing this, one of the EMTs was always there with the family, and having a familiar face that was also a first responder helped comfort them.
“Every once in a while, you go on a call like this, and no amount of pay in the world can really replace the relationship you develop with the patient, the family,” said Rick.
Over the next 11 years, after Will came home, Rick Allgood and his crew became part of Will’s family. They followed Will’s achievements on Facebook, had regular visits will the family and celebrated the anniversary of Will’s accident with donuts or pizza together. Will’s mother, Marcy, loves her visits to the station. “I just admire you guys for what you do. It’s amazing,” she said.
It was a long road to recovery for Will. But as he gradually improved to full health, the first responders could breathe a rare sigh of relief. When your job is to comfort and save lives every day, it would be easy to forget names and people. But the paramedics who were first on the scene to attend to an unconscious 7-year-old boy would never forget. He became part of their family. And what a great family to be a part of.
Caring... PassItOn.com®
From New England’s cloudy skies to the parched fields in Arizona; from the early morning ice rinks in Minnesota to the sandy pitches along the Oregon coast, a myriad of sun-screened, whistle-blowing, down-parka-wearing, sore-footed coaches brave the weather and sacrifice their afternoons to tribes of budding athletes.
At a time when uncertainty is sure to swirl around our children’s heads, they find reassurance on the fields of play. Teamwork is the lesson we hope they learn. When a coach encourages a player, she finds courage to participate in the game of life. She learns how to overcome the voices of self-doubt, step back into the mud and find the meaning of camaraderie. Win or lose, there will be friends made and the victory of finishing a hard task.
Our growing ones need mentors and friends, teammates and coaches, opponents and opportunities. Youth sports is the place where small risks can be taken and lessons learned. If we expect our children to take over for us when we are finally sidelined, we must begin now to prepare them for the role. Give an honest effort. Play well with others. Come prepared. Adapt to the weather. Accept defeat graciously. Champion the team because a team is more than a championship.
The right coach makes all the difference to a child. As Hall of Fame Coach Pat Summit says, “Handle success like you handle failure. You can’t always control what happens, but you can control how you handle it.”
Such direction is the foundation our children need. So, as another season begins, and pint-sized kids trundle like bobblehead dolls in their new football helmets or zip past in bright-colored soccer uniforms with ponytails afloat like windsocks, may we all remember that letting kids be kids means letting them play.
Here’s to the enduring patience of coaches, parent volunteers and youth sports referees. Thanks for building a world where our kids can try out for real life before they are thrown into the game for real.
Coaching... PassItOn.com®
In a time when it seems like conventionally beautiful people rule the world and so much of who we are depends on fitting in, Kodi Lee breaks all the barriers. With seemingly “perfect” performers gracing our screens and large stages, it often feels like there is no room for the rest of us. Kodi Lee is a reminder that all are important and everybody has a voice worth listening to. But it wasn’t always so.
Kodi Lee was born in 1996 with optic nerve hypoplasia, a condition that left him legally blind. He survived a lifesaving surgery at five days old and, in his early years, was diagnosed with autism.
To see him enter the stage brings two emotions to the surface: You may feel like you want to protect him from failure, and you want to cheer him on. Even Simon Cowell rose from his seat the first time he met Lee on “America’s Got Talent.” The famous judge and producer was worried for the young man who wobbled a bit when he walked and couldn’t make eye contact. But with the aid of his mother, Kodi Lee made his way to the piano bench.
The audience grew silent, their faces filled with hope and fear. Fingers resting on keys, lips testing the distance to the microphone, Lee transforms into a performer who delivers raw, emotional lyrics drawn out of some inner power. His voice settles into the tones of a seasoned traveler who has seen and understands the world. His pitch is perfect, and his range is remarkable. When he sings the lyrics to Calum Scott’s “Biblical,” it feels like the whole world is laid bare and the love he sings about is the only thing we really need.
Lee is the child of Tina and Eric Lee. Because his ability to communicate is limited in some ways, he looked deeply for avenues of expression and connected with music. It is like a door that, once opened, floods his senses and focuses his talent. He is only one of approximately 25 people in the world considered a musical savant. He has an audio-photographic memory and holds a library of songs in his mind, everything from jazz to R&B, pop and classical.
When he first performed on “America’s Got Talent,” the audience was mesmerized and thrilled. The standing ovation carried on to his next performance. Lee was overjoyed. The happiest place in his life is at the piano in front of an audience, not because it shines the light on him but because it makes people so happy.
As we look at our own images on our screens, save a few spaces for messages that reach out and make others happy. No matter who we are, something profound inside us connects to people and brings them a little joy, a little encouragement and a big smile.
Sing Out... PassItOn.com®
Andrey’s Ukrainian mother encouraged him to follow his passion for art. His Russian father taught him to work hard. And his young wife encouraged him to find personal meaning in his sculptures.
Andrey and Katya met in art school in Moscow. Andrey is tall and broad-shouldered. When you talk to him, he bends in close to understand the meaning you are trying to convey. His brown eyes light up as if from within. He’ll put a large hand on your shoulder as he apologizes for his broken English, sometimes explaining the definition of a Russian or Ukrainian word or using a word in French to punctuate a thought.
Strewn out on a table are the photographs of all his projects, many featured in prominent Russian publications. His sculptures are primarily civic pieces created to represent Russia's strength or her citizens' scientific accomplishments. One sculpture of Nikola Tesla shows the towering figure tenderly opening his hand to a small bird. Andrey explains that he wanted to show the intellectual strength of the man, but also his heart. It is this ability to capture the depth of humanity in one pose that makes Andrey’s work so captivating.
Andrey and Katya were living a charmed artist’s life. They were doing rewarding work, making a good living and raising two small children. Then, the war broke out, dividing families and casting a pall over the whole region that weighed heavily on the people. Travel became restricted, communication was spotty. Finances were hard to access. Andrey and Katya were traveling when the war began. There was little hope that their lives would ever be normal again because Andrey would be conscripted into the military. So, with what little money they had in their pockets, they took a train leaving Russia.
“It was a miracle that we got that train,” Andrey remembers. “There were no seats. But while I was talking to the man behind the counter, two seats came up as available. We took them and held our children on our laps for 14 hours.”
That was only the beginning of their journey as refugees. Eventually, they ended up in the Western United States. Andrey found work as a sculptor’s apprentice and went to work welding the giant steel infrastructure to support clay sculptures that would become bronze. Massive horses, dignitaries and long friezes that would adorn university campuses and town squares were built and shipped from the studio.
At night, Andrey worked on his own sculpture, a gift to the world expressing the sadness and despair he felt for his family living in both Ukraine and Russia. The sculpture features two majestic mothers, clothed in the robes of peace, yet mourning. At their feet is a fallen soldier representing their son: a Russian mother and a Ukrainian mother both lamenting the same boy. Andrey has no words to describe the scene, not in his native tongue or the one he now uses every day in a new home. He only tears up.
Peace... PassItOn.com®
As a teenager, Graham Nash co-founded The Hollies with his school friend, Allan Clarke. They became one of the most popular groups to emerge from the UK as part of the “British Invasion”. Named after their idol Buddy Holly, the Hollies began touring in the United States in 1969 which in time led to Graham meeting David Crosby and Stephen Stills with whom he created one of the most distinctive blends of voices in rock and roll history: Crosby Stills & Nash. Among Graham’s songwriting contributions to CSN and soon thereafter to CSNY was a song never recorded by the Hollies but a perfect fit for CSNY: “Teach Your Children”. The tender call-out to be attentive to your children and to encourage them to dream is a timeless reminder of our responsibilities and an awareness that as they grow into those dreams, they will always love you. The song then takes a turn and admonishes children to teach their parents, to share dreams with them, thus creating a mutual bond of trust and strong shoulders to lean on.
Graham Nash has never lost sight of his sensitivity to children and the world they will inherit. On Nash’s new release, Now, recorded at 81 years old, his song “A Better Life” explores the contagious optimism of an introspective observer who sings, “The world has changed, but the soul remains.”
As children, the road ahead seems long and obscured by many turns. With the guidance of the older generation, sharing the lessons learned and the ones that should be forgotten, we can (hope to) hear them say, that we left them a better life; a life more manageable, more likely to give them space to grow and in turn, reach back and give us that steady shoulder we need when our legs are feeble and our backs a little weakened by the load we carried.
No matter your age, and what you have accomplished, you can always take the time to make a better life for somebody. As Graham Nash says, “Although children are 25% of the population, they are 100% of our future.” Reach out by reaching back. Teach children well.
A Better Life... PassItOn.com®
Isabelle Allende is one of the most widely read novelists of our time. Her stories drive us to places we must see to understand, exploring cultural and physical diasporas and that beating heart of humanity, the family.
Writers show us the world in a way that opens our minds to new perspectives and helps us better understand ourselves through introspection and without personal risk. Books can shake us out of our complacency and challenge our emotions to mature. This was the calling Allende felt as she captured stories and served them up to her readers. And then, tragedy struck the writer. Her daughter, Paula Frias, contracted a rare disease, and Allende was left to grieve through the long process of losing her one breath at a time.
Grief is exhausting. Grief drains the creative reservoirs. After Paula’s passing, Allende was left empty. No story could fill her soul the way her daughter had. Then, at the suggestion of a friend, she and her husband took a trip to India. The land of contrasts splashes colors on the palette; the people and their lives fill up the story bank. But it wasn’t a new plotline Allende found. As they maneuvered their way in a rickety cab through the melee of traffic — buses, barrows, bicycles and one cow, they finally made their way to the countryside. Long stretches of natural landscape rolled out, sometimes curtained by the migrating haze of the city.
They came upon a group of women gathered to rest under a large tree. Allende and her husband approached them. At first, the Indian women were shy and backed away. But curiosity overcame them, and they came forward. Allende remembers the meeting vividly: “Lacking common language, we greeted each other with smiles and then they examined us with bold fingers, touching our clothing, our faces and the silver jewelry we had bought the day before. We took off the bracelets and offered them to the women, who put them on with delight. There were enough for everyone, two or three each. One of the women, who could have been Paula’s age, took my face in her hands and kissed me lightly on the forehead. I felt her parched lips, her warm breath, her smell. It was such an unexpected gesture, so intimate, that I couldn’t hold back the tears.”
What Allende didn’t understand at first was that the mother was desperate and starving. She had a newborn and offered the baby to Allende to raise. It was an offering that rocked Allende. The transaction could not have taken place for a myriad of legal and ethical reasons. But the notion that a mother could hope so much for her daughter that she would give her away stuck with Allende. Returning home, Allende started a foundation to help impoverished women, inspired by the muse of her ever-present daughter who often said in difficult situations: “What is the most generous thing to do right now?”
In the process, Allende found her voice again — and soon returned to writing, as well.
Find Your Voice... PassItOn.com®
Heman Bekele was born in Ethiopia. He’s always had a scientist’s curiosity, that insatiable desire to know how the physical world works and how to improve the lives of its inhabitants. Before he moved to the United States at age 4, he remembers watching people working in the hot sun all day. In middle school, he began to wonder if they knew the risk of skin cancer associated with sun exposure.
Skin cancer is one of the most common forms of cancer. Untreated, it can spread beneath the skin’s surface to the lymph nodes and blood. The key to preventing complications and even death due to skin cancer is early treatment.
Sometimes, the simplest answers solve the most complex problems. That’s where Heman’s curious mind comes in. Heman developed Melanoma Treating Soap (MTS), a daily soap that uses a compound to treat skin cancer by reviving dendritic cells — an important part of the immune system — attacked by cancer. Once revived, the healthy cells fight against the cancer cells. Deborah Isabelle, a product engineering specialist from 3M and Heman’s mentor, describes the product this way: “The soap reminds the body how to defend itself.”
The simple solutions are often the most effective because they are the ones people will use. Soap is a daily ritual for most people, and for those at risk in sun-drenched areas, using soap is an easy and affordable solution. “I wanted to make my idea something that not only was great in terms of science but also could be accessible to as many people as possible,” Heman says. “No matter where you live, I think you know and trust soap in comparison to other medicinal products.”
Making soap with the right compounds to hold it together and still be effective took months of work creating prototypes. To speed up the process, Heman used computer modeling to test and refine combinations of compounds.
In the journey of pursuing a passion, multiple disciplines are needed: a little knowledge of chemistry, marketing, software and computer skills, and even social science to see how people will respond to a new product. But when we educate ourselves with a purpose, we learn much faster. And Heman started with a goal in mind and learned the skills along the way.
“There’s still a lot to do,” Heman says. He has plans to start a nonprofit to distribute the soap to places in the world that need it most. That means learning about distribution and supply chains as well as international relations. That’s a tall order for a 14-year-old. But to Heman, that’s the advantage of starting young. He has dreams of building something life-changing. His vision is to turn the cancer-fighting soap into a “symbol of hope, accessibility, and a world where skin cancer treatment is within reach for all.”
Be The Change... PassItOn.com®
In 1929, as the American economy crashed and one-quarter of the workforce was unemployed, Joe Rantz stood on the planks of a dilapidated porch and watched his father, stepmother and younger brothers drive away.
It was raining. Rantz was 15 years old. He had been taking care of himself for five years, tending his vegetable garden, sleeping at the schoolhouse where he chopped wood in exchange for a bed, and hauling heavy trays of dishes and food back and forth from the cookhouse to the work camp where the loggers took their meals. He had learned to forage food in the woods, skillfully swing hammers and axes, and sharpen buck saws.
He was self-sufficient. But it was a different matter to be entirely alone, his parents no longer able to take care of him. His father’s last words hung in his mind like the damp air around the unfinished clapboard house he was left with: “Look, son, if there’s one thing I’ve figured out about life, it’s that if you want to be happy, you have to learn how to be happy on your own.”
It was little consolation for a boy left with a can of bacon grease, a chunk of meat and a few eggs. The small town in the Pacific Northwest where Rantz was abandoned provided hard opportunities for work digging out stumps, de-barking logs and hacking irrigation ditches into the rocky soil. Rantz finished the house, learned to play the banjo and worked weekends driving draft horses that dragged massive logs he had felled in the woods. His formative years were spent in manual labor, living alone in the woods, and school years where he worked equally hard to make grades. But he yearned to be part of a family.
Rantz was in high school when rowing coach Alvin Ulbrickson stopped by looking for recruits for his team. He was impressed with Rantz’s strength in a gym class and left a card. The University of Washington had a strong rowing tradition. Coach Ulbrickson was always on the hunt for diamonds in the rough, and Rantz was exactly that.
Rantz had grown up by the strength of his back, but he had done no rowing. Still, he wanted to better himself by going to college. He worked extra hours with his shovel and axe, saved everything he could and showed up at the boathouse hoping to earn a scholarship. He was one of 175 freshmen competing for 80 spots. To make the varsity spot, Rantz would have to excel from the lower training boats to the junior varsity boat, where he could get noticed and hope to be selected for the top nine-man crew.
The training was brutal: early-morning rowing on icy cold water during snowstorms. Burning lungs aching for air and muscles so depleted they had to be willed to continue. Off days were spent cutting or dragging lumber. Summer work included hauling rock at a quarry.
Through it all, Rantz became the one person everyone could count on. The physical work didn’t seem to bother him. He was at home in the boat — the synchronization of oars and breathing, the pull of a common goal, the bond of brothers he finally had. There would be victories against all odds for the boys in the boat, including the gold medal in the 1936 Olympics. But when Rantz agreed to have his story told, he grasped the author’s hand and, with emotion in his voice, said: “Not just about me. It has to be about the boat.”
Determination carries us through the first part of the race. It is family that gets us over the finish line.
Pull Together... PassItOn.com®
A StoryCorps story.
When the winter sun sets in Kasigluk, Alaska, it won’t rise fully for three months. But Alaskans are a hardened breed. They continue to work undaunted, many in trades that require them to be outdoors in extreme conditions. The isolation, the darkness and the unforgiving weather can take a toll on the residents.
The results can be sobering. Alaska’s suicide rate is twice the national average. Don Reardon reflects on this tragedy and how it affected him in high school: “The first person that I knew intimately who took his own life was a teammate of mine. I was just a freshman in high school. He had moved into Bethel to play basketball. We were good friends. And then, that summer, I found out he took his life. That fall, I lost another classmate. Pretty soon, it was like a whole gym full of people that I knew personally who are gone.”
Qaiyaan Harcharek lived in the northernmost town in the United States: Utqiagvik. Harcharek had similar experiences with suicide in his part of Alaska, a few hundred miles from where Reardon grew up. But his were more personal. “I can relate. 100 percent. All of my adult life, I’ve had struggles with mental health and depression, and I’m a suicide survivor … I attempted it.”
Reardon and Harcharek met when Reardon traveled north. They became fast friends, brothers who loved the Alaskan culture and the wilderness. The tundra reaches to an endless horizon, too high in elevation to support trees. There is more sky than land, a terrain you can traverse for weeks and not see another human figure. It is a place where ancient mammoth tusks wait to be discovered, a place so spiritual that the past and the present are the same.
It is summer, and the temperatures are somewhere in the mid-fifties. Harcharek is shirtless, with a crest of tribal tattoos across his chest, symbols of the sacredness of nature. The vast distance could symbolize that space between human beings that leaves them feeling alone in a universe of cold. But Reardon and Harcharek stand together, bridging the gap of emotions with friendship.
“It’s as if we’ve known each other our whole life,” Reardon says.
Harcharek reflects on his darkest day and what pulled him out of the abyss. “I had this vision,” he begins, his voice breaking with emotion. “It’s hard to describe, but it was my wife and children reaching up to me. And there were many, many silhouettes around them of people, with faces, and yours was one of them.” It is Reardon’s turn to grow emotional. He chuckles a bit, covering up the feelings but affirming his brotherly bond.
“What I do know,” Harcharek continues, “is that it was the love that I received from each and every one of those people that saved my life.”
Reardon looks forward. “I appreciate you, man. We need to get out on the land together and just go spend some time in the wilderness.”
Harcharek answers, “Absolutely. That is my medicine.”
The friendship, the wilderness, the feeling that life reaches out beyond our expectations, beyond our dreams, to endless affirmations of living.
Friendship... PassItOn.com®
Liz Stookey Sunde carries on the cause of love and making us all better human beings through Music to Life. As the daughter of Noel Paul Stookey of the 1960s folk trio Peter, Paul and Mary, she knows firsthand the power of music to change our souls.
Noel Paul Stookey wrote perhaps the most oft-quoted song lyric at weddings: “Whenever two or more of you are gathered in His name, there is Love.” Our world regularly feels unsettled, in need of love — and gifted troubadours like Noel create songs that unite us. Stookey’s career with Peter, Paul and Mary promoted peace and kindness, and now he has taken this vision for a better world one step further.
In collaboration with a diverse coalition of artists, businesses and nonprofit allies, Noel and his daughter, Liz Stookey Sunde, have founded Music to Life, a national nonprofit that offers musicians the training, resources and mentorship they need to become social entrepreneurs in their communities.
Communities face numerous health, education and human rights crises. Music is a great healer, and musicians can be activated to build bridges to positive change. Sunde and her team are ushering in a new kind of troubadour, building community partnerships and programs that address issues of economic, environmental and racial justice.
“We’ve all benefited from music’s restorative power,” Sunde says, “whether at a festival, in a concert hall or even as part of a musical ensemble. We want to empower the music-makers and help them build music-driven programs that revitalize their communities.”
Musicians, from rap artists to classically trained violinists, use their art to address a need in close collaboration with a community-based organization. Their stories are inspirational: a country artist with kids who struggled with substance misuse now facilitates musical healing for parents and caregivers at a local opioid clinic; an Indigenous rap poet who lost friends to suicide now tours nationally and conducts self-esteem workshops at juvenile detention facilities; and a bilingual performer from Latin America engages new American domestic workers in productions that help them adjust to their new home and connect with each other.
“At no time during the cross-cultural evolution of this planet has music ever had a more important role,” notes Stookey. “In an era of mistrust and confusing social signals, these musicians touch the people of our communities, bringing clarity and hope to a wounded world. I’m honored to play a small role in their journey and the work of my daughter.”
Music not only heals our souls and connects us as human beings; it awakens the divine within us, the yearning to bring peace to the world one relationship at a time. When we are moved by the tones that transcend language, we make room in our lives to love more. We find time to gather and share. We move to a better place and find ourselves believing “in something that we’ve never seen before.”
The Power of Music… PassItOn.com®
We are all participants in what Walt Whitman calls “the great play of life.” How we choose to participate is up to us. We can be casual observers or throw ourselves into life and enjoy not only the triumphs but also our foibles. No one embodied this truth more than one journalistic pioneer.
Writer, editor, actor and bon vivant George Plimpton was born in upper-class New England in 1927 and graduated from Harvard University and Cambridge in the United Kingdom. At an early age, he was drawn to literature and a life of experience.
“I suppose in a mild way there is a lesson to be learned for the young, or the young at heart — the gumption to get out and try one’s wings,” he wrote. And he did, pioneering what became known as participatory journalism. He believed getting the real story meant getting out of the press box and into the dugout, the huddle, the orchestra pit.
Gregarious and sporting a distinct accent culled from life among social elites, he threw himself into stories about football, baseball, boxing, hockey and even the competitive world of the New York Philharmonic. He went through training camp with the Detroit Lions of the NFL, taking reps as a backup quarterback. He took three snaps in a game, the first a memorable trip as he was backpedaling after the snap. He sparred for three rounds with Sugar Ray Robinson and played goalie for the Boston Bruins in a preseason game. Perhaps most nerve-wracking was his attempt as an aerialist in the circus, at which he failed terribly. In the New York Philharmonic as a percussionist, he mishit the gong and was rewarded with applause from legendary conductor Leonard Bernstein.
What we learn from Plimpton’s madcap miscues and triumphs of participation at his ego’s expense is that the ultimate victory is really just being a part of something, anything, that you can look back on and say: “I did that. I tried. I had fun. I hope you did, too.”
In a world where climbing to the top in every endeavor seems to be the only measure of success, taking a step back and simply participating in life is a great reward.
“I have never been convinced there’s anything inherently wrong in having fun,” he writes. And fun he had. After a stint in the military as a demolition expert, he became fascinated with fireworks. He often entertained family and friends with extravagant pyrotechnics, delighting them with his home-made creations. At one such affair, a rocket failed to launch and exploded, leaving a crater. It was just as entertaining as lighting up the sky.
For Plimpton, life was about the effort and the friendships he developed along the way. His wide circle included professional athletes, literary debutantes and Robert F. Kennedy.
“Football, as I’ve known it,” Plimpton wrote after his foray with the Detroit Lions, “has nothing to do with winning or losing — it’s something that comes from the heart.”
For all of us on the sidelines and in the stands, Plimpton gave us permission to trot out onto the field, to make friends, to take a few hits, to jump back up and enjoy the stories with people we’ve come to love.
Just Participate… PassItOn.com®
In the midst of the pandemic, somewhere in the heart of Chicago, when the whole city was in quarantine, somebody opened a window and began singing. We may never know who that optimistic person was, but we will never forget the song.
It began with one voice, others joined in, and within moments, it was as if the whole city was singing, then the whole world. The song? Bon Jovi’s “Living on a Prayer.”
It offered the hope we all needed, even as the artist himself was dealing with COVID-19 scares as bandmates and his son had severe cases of the virus. They survived, and Jon Bon Jovi rolled up his sleeves and got to work. Not singing but serving.
There were people who needed to eat, people who were out of work and low on work. JBJ Soul Kitchen became their place of refuge where they could get a meal. It began as a “pay what you can” restaurant and was soon serving anybody who needed a meal.
And in the back was the rocker himself, up to his elbows in suds as he scrubbed at large pots, bowls and utensils. His wife, Dorothea Bongiovi, JBJ Soul Kitchen’s founder and program director, snapped a picture of him hard at work, and Jon added a comment: “If you can’t do what you do … do what you can.” The post immediately went viral.
The times that try us the most are often the times when we discover the very best of humanity. Across the country and around the world, people rise to the occasion delivering food, clearing vacant lots, mentoring children and visiting elderly neighbors. From earthquakes to the pandemic to the recent California fires, unsung heroes are all around us: California neighbors on top of a roof, spraying smoldering palm trees with hoses. Along the Maine seacoast, a community-organized beach cleanup after a storm. In the Midwest, farmers markets providing boxes of fresh produce to recently landed refugees.
As JBJ Soul Kitchen celebrates 15 years of operations for the people of New Jersey, we’re all left a little bit in awe. We have survived, together. Through the hard work and compassion of our neighbors, friends and families, we are still here.
“I’m here every day we’re open,” Jon Bon Jovi told USA Today. The world is still open, and each of us is here. Let us be about the work that gets us through the toughest times, and when the day deserves a little music, sing.
And I'll be there forever and a day, always
I'll be there 'til the stars don't shine
Be There, Always… PassItOn.com®
Drive into the parking lot of any major cancer hospital, and you will be greeted by a small village of RVs. Families bring their siblings and children to the hospitals for weeks-long treatments. Families make the trek from hundreds of miles away and remain close to their loved one by setting up camp in the parking lot.
Getting the best care for a rare form of cancer is paramount. But for a typical child living in rural America, the most effective care is more than a few hours’ drive away. And if the cancer needs regular treatment and check-ins, the cost of travel can be prohibitive.
For Itzy, the care she needed was a full state away, in Colorado. Lucky for Itzy, there is Angel Flight, an organization of pilots who volunteer their time and their aircraft to fly patients like Itzy to the hospitals that benefit them most.
Pilot and volunteers Nancy and Kosta Constantine deflect the credit: “We play such a small part. Certainly, the doctors in Kansas and the children’s hospital, they’re a miracle for her.”
Itzy’s mother Mirna disagrees. “Nancy and Kosta are my angels. Just out of the kindness of their heart, wanting to be here for us, for something so terrible that you know the outcome of it, but you know God shows his face through wonderful people.”
Lifting the weight of worry associated with travel expenses is a huge blessing for Mirna. And Itzy has become a part of the family for the pilots. They were there when Itzy rang the bell, celebrating being cancer-free. “For me, it was a relief knowing that she was at the end of her treatment,” Kosta says.
Angel Flight has completed 36,000 flights in 29 years, logging 17 million nautical miles. In addition to flying cancer patients to hospitals, they deliver children with special needs to camps, as well as supplies for disaster response efforts.
Seeing the glistening aircraft and a friendly, private pilot can be like seeing an angel when you are a young child, uncertain of the future. And in the broad smiles on the pilots’ faces, it is apparent just how much joy there is in taking a child into the heavens, giving wings to wishes that seemed all but impossible before they boarded the plane.
“Passengers are always so appreciative of my efforts,” one Angel Flight pilot says. “What they don’t understand is that I love to fly, and taking them to their destination is fun for me. The real sacrifice would be if I had to stay on the ground.”
Staying on the ground may be the most difficult thing any of us has to do after being airborne in a small plane, soaring among the clouds. Flight is a miracle. And flying someone toward the hope of a better day is even more so.
Take Flight… PassItOn.com®
Learning how to get along seems elementary to most of us. Conflict is unnatural and unwanted, but it seems to be the default when we feel threatened. If not defused, the conflict can widen, and we all suffer the consequences.
“The tenor of our dialogue has decreased,” Marianne Viray says. “And the way things are set up with social media and isolation, we are disincentivized; it’s too easy to not allow for engagement.”
Human relations were never meant to be easy. Struggle and sacrifice for others builds our character. To grow into the kind of people who are kind as well as productive, honest as well as successful, compassionate as well as competitive, we must learn from each other. That means understanding the roots of disagreements and using differences to strengthen relationships, not tear them down.
Viray has worked for years in Washington, D.C. She has seen the good, the bad and the ugly. But her eyes never dim, and hope shines brightly as she talks about the kind of people who have been her guiding lights.
“I remember when Senator McCain was being interviewed by a reporter and was asked about Senator Obama. It was asked in a way that was disparaging to the young Obama, who was just beginning his presidential campaign. McCain wasn’t having it. He simply said that he and Senator Obama saw things differently, but he was a friend, a person who cared deeply about his country.”
Viray’s organization, Disagree Better, has its origins in the National Governors Association, under the guidance of Governor Spencer Cox of Utah. When political parties are at odds, our government gets bogged down, and things we all depend on slow or halt altogether. Tension in the workplace causes productivity to drop, and billions of dollars in our economy are lost due to incivility. And when people don’t get along, they find ways to work around each other. That slows workflow.
The answer was to have governors model the “disagree better” mantra.
“What we learned,” says Viray, “Is that there is a hunger for this. People increased their intellectual humility, they decreased party animus and they liked the leaders better for having been in these ads.”
A little nudge from the right person in a tense situation can lower the temperature of the conversation and remind us that friendships are more important than politics, and healthy relationships stay that way because people work at them to find the best solution. By disagreeing better, we can embrace healthy conflict that lets us find common ground and discover solutions — one human at a time.
Disagree Better… PassItOn.com®
Leo Tolstoy, the great Russian novelist, explored the deepest workings of the human spirit. His sprawling epic, War and Peace, depicts the Napoleonic invasion of Russia through five aristocratic families. His words capture the sweeping scope of war and the intimate and tragic results on individuals. Interspersed in the story are philosophical reflections on human freedom, a theme he would return to in Anna Karenina.
Tolstoy drew from his own life experiences to explore deep human emotions. His parents died when he was very young, and despite being raised in a privileged society, he grew to detest the inequalities in human conditions. After witnessing the brutalities of war, he traveled throughout Europe to observe educational methods before returning home to build schools for peasant children. He managed a large farm and a large family, and he wrote prolifically. Yet even as his reputation as a writer grew, he experienced a crisis of faith.
At the height of his fame, Tolstoy was filled with despair over the meaninglessness of existence. He had achieved fame, wealth, and a loving family. But the sense that life was not fair gnawed at him. Intellectualism and philosophy left him feeling empty.
He began spending long hours away from his verdant farm, observing the local peasants. He noticed that despite their hard lives, their suffering and their lack of education, they possessed a quiet, unwavering faith. This common bond among the people gives them hope, guides the way they treat each other and helps them confront hardship and death.
At the heart of the realization that restored Tolstoy’s faith is the golden rule in nearly every belief system: “Do unto others only as you would have them do unto you.” This simple spiritual guide is the foundation of happiness. All life is interconnected and deserves our compassion and kindness.
“For nothing enriches the world more than kindness. It makes mysterious things clear, difficult things easy, and dull things cheerful,” Tolstoy wrote. In all his learning, he had discovered that the most intelligent people are always those who are most kind.
Be Smart. Be Kind… PassItOn.com®
Technology has been the great divider in many communities. Innovations happened so fast that the old way of doing things just twenty years ago felt like a centuries-wide gap. Senior citizens were becoming sequestered because of the language and technology disparity. Daily banking, neighborhood communication, even shopping became more difficult for those who grew up relying on a checkbook and a postal address. Even entertainment became complicated with subscriptions and services. To some octogenarians, it felt like the planet was taken over by space aliens who speak a completely different language. And for the youth, they didn’t know that missing from their life experience was a rich connection to the past.
During the pandemic, Young Aadi watched his grandmother struggle to join family Zoom calls, open attachments, and fill out online medical forms. It was about more than staying connected in an online world. Aadi realized an entire generation was struggling with diminishing dignity and confidence and becoming increasingly isolated. He also wanted his own generation to have the same type of respectful relationship he had with his grandmother. “What if,” he thought. “Students like me, who grew up with technology, could help seniors like her feel less left behind?” So he founded TechPals.
Aadi began with a few friends and a handful of seniors at the local library. They taught the basics of smartphones. What he thought would be a few sessions blossomed into regularly scheduled events. Seniors brought their friends. Aadi recruited more friends. He coded a central website to manage volunteer sign-ups. Classes expanded to help seniors develop texting skills, use FaceTime and recognize online scams. To date Aadi and TechPals have held over 150 hands-on workshops at libraries, senior centers, and retirement homes, as well as online training sessions. More than 5,000 seniors have benefitted. “At first, my peers saw TechPals as just another service project,” Aadi says. “That changed the moment they watched a senior smile after sending their first text or joining a family call. They began to see how their knowledge could change lives in simple but powerful ways. The experience has made them more patient, empathetic, and confident leaders. TechPals didn’t just teach seniors about technology—it taught students about humanity.”
Digital literacy crosses the divide and makes sure every generation has access to the amazing new world technology has delivered to our living rooms. But nothing can replace the face-to-face relationships created when a seasoned grandmother connects with a young grandson and both are eager to learn from each other. “Working with older adults has taught me that true strength comes from persistence. They’ve shown me that learning is not limited by age but by mindset. Their resilience reminds me that progress means nothing unless it helps people feel seen, capable, and connected. When I am older, I hope to see technology guided by fairness and empathy: innovation that protects, empowers, and includes, not just advances for a few.”
Connection… PassItOn.com®
Since 2001, the Gloria Barron Prize for Young Heroes has honored 625 young people who are making a difference in the world – from providing meals to the elderly to cleaning up local rivers to mentoring young students in after-school programs. But the work is far from over. As founder T. A. Barron says, “We need heroes today more than ever.”
Author and Barron Prize founder T. A. Barron grew up in Colorado ranch country. His mother, Gloria Barron, a teacher at the Colorado School for the Deaf and Blind, taught her own kids and her students that every person has the power to make a difference in the world.
T. A. Barron went on to become a prolific author of books about fictional heroes, learning long ago that stories are the best way to convey big, moral ideas. “If we wrap core values inside a story, they’re much more likely to land in the hearts and minds of people,” says Barron.
However, for T. A. Barron, that is not enough. He wanted to take the ideas he cares most about – especially the power of every kid to help the world somehow – and translate them into action. And so he chose to cook up a prize that would turn the spotlight on heroic kids of all backgrounds so that their stories could inspire others.
“My mother, Gloria Barron, was the inspiration for the creation of the Barron Prize,” explains Barron. “The Barron Prize honors her and her conviction that every individual has power, their choices matter, and they can all help lift the boat we’re in by their actions and words.”
Like many parents, Barron realized that in the realm of stories, there’s nothing more powerful than true tales of bravery, compassion, and generosity – especially if the stories are about young people who are living those qualities. That’s why all Barron Prize young heroes are honored not only for the difference they’re making in the world but for the heroic ideals behind their work – qualities like courage, perseverance and deep commitment.
Barron Prize recipients light up the world with those qualities while helping their communities and protecting the environment. Alexa delivers gently used books to underserved students. Austin creates community murals in Washington state to help save salmon. Jahkil distributes Blessing Bags to the homeless, and Te’Lario grows produce to feed the hungry. Srihan is inventing new ways to remove microplastics from waterways while Anisha uses AI to help mitigate climate change. Matthew provides free music lessons to youth with intellectual and developmental disabilities. All of these young leaders are changing the world in creative ways and inspiring others by their example.
Even decades after recognition by the Barron Prize, a number of winners continue to make a meaningful difference. Ashley Shuyler Carter was honored at age 16, back in 2001, for her work to support education for girls in Africa. Twenty-five years later, her nonprofit (originally called AfricAid and now Daring Girls) helps secondary girls in Tanzania complete their education and become catalysts for change in their communities. Ryan Hreljac won the Barron Prize in 2002 at age 11 for using his earnings from household chores to help provide clean water to developing countries. Today, his Ryan’s Well Foundation has provided clean drinking water and sanitation to more than 1.6 million people around the world.
Reflecting on 25 impactful years, T. A. Barron shares, “The young heroes we’ve honored fill me with renewed gratitude and hope. The world has changed, but the importance of these young people and their inspiring stories has never diminished.”
Looking to the future, Barron adds, “The path to achieving the world we all want is to awaken in every young person the importance of their choices and actions to help the world. Every kid can make a difference. And if millions of kids realize that, the force of their goodness will be completely unstoppable.”
Be The Force For Good… PassItOn.com®