I'm not usually one for inspirational stories. You can be sure that you will never see an email from me with some heartlifting carp, the bottom line urging you to pass it on to all your friends.
But I'll bend that rule today to do it here.
Do you remember a few weeks back, just after the Haiti earthquake, hearing a news story about Christa Brelsford, an American girl who was there when the quake hit? She and her brother were in Haiti as part of an ongoing humanitarian effort. All the stuff you hear about Haiti's poverty, ignorance, corruption and the environmental & construction failures corruption brings in developing nations - they were there to help the people do things right, with education, sustainable practices, along with some simple hope and a dash of give-a-damn.
The quake struck and Christa was trapped under a collapsed roof. She was in DEEP trouble, but through extraordinary efforts by the people, by her brother, and a Sri Lankan UN Peacekeeper team that was in the area, she made it through to Miami, Florida.
She didn't really make it back in one piece, though - she lost her foot. Watching her interview on the national news, I was kinda caught by surprise. Not a word about the ordeal and her personal loss - rather she emphasized how glad she was to be alive and how thankful she was to the people who helped her. And how determined she is to continue helping the people of Haiti.
I wish we had more like her, who even after such a personal loss, still think first about others rather than themselves.
So why are you reading about this here? This afternoon, while slurping on a silky mocha at my favorite coffee & chocolate emporium, I had the opportunity to compliment Crista's father, Taylor Brelsford, on the great job he did raising such an impressive pair of kids. Taylor is a co-worker, and a pretty OK guy. And he is tremendously proud (rightfully so) of his offspring.
Taylor told me about a new website, Christa's Angels, dedicated to continuing their efforts in Haiti. Check the place out, and if you feel so moved, toss them a couple bucks. (I think I'll do just that.)
My little blog doesn't have a big readership. Heck, I'll be whooping it up someday when I pass 50 readers ;-) But an effort like Christa's deserves all the help it can get, so thanks for reading this post! And like you read in all those inspirational sorta-spam emails - tell all your friends about it...
Thanks all!
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