Dear Reader:
Exactly one year from today (May 29, 2013)…I will have written 1002 stories to beat Scheherazade’s 1001 Arabian Nights tales’long-standing record!
So I had been thinking hard about what story I would do….and then Sunday night I caught the last part of 60 Minutes. (It was a repeat…but a good one; a timely one!)
Lara Logan, CBS correspondent, was talking to several “ sets” of brothers all serving together… because of a military decision off-setting an earlier military mandate.
Since I always told my students the story of the Sullivan Brothers- (the five brothers who were all killed (from Waterloo, Iowa in WWII) when a Japanese submarine rammed their carrier- (they all served together)…I was particularly interested in this Sixty Minutes story and the military reversal decision.
* After these five brothers died two or more brothers/sisters (especially twins, triplets, etc.) could not serve together…with the reasoning being, of course, that separated they stood a better chance of one each at least surviving… than if they were together. Now this decision has been reversed and Lara Logan was interviewing several sets of marines in one particular unit .
I was just about to go for my evening walk…when suddenly a quick “foreward” was given that a story about a little dog named Bill would be on 60 Minutes Overtime or you could pull the story up on CBS Sixty Minutes. I did….and thought….this is it…the story I want my readers to see and feel.
It brings home an universal truth – that even in the worst conditions possible – the human spirit can rise above the carnage to love and sacrifice for one of God’s creatures. It brings hope to all of us who call ourselves human…mankind….I hope you agree after seeing the story.
I was in tears after this program…but happy tears that one dog, Holly’s, life had been changed and was now living in Texas with an outstanding young human being….it always comes down to just helping one person, or one of God’s creatures…we don’t have to save the world…just save one life….just change one life! Then our life will have benefitted the world. What an amazing thought!
And sometimes we find something special in certain people…who are able to overcome all the odds to be successful…to reach the American Dream….this, too, I want to focus on as I get closer to my goal….today the American Dream Award goes to Gac Filipaj.
Watch below and see why:
Gac Filipaj: From janitor to Ivy League graduate – CBS News
So until tomorrow…let us learn Lord, from these true stories and let these role models help show us the way to glorify Your Name through the attributes of courage, compassion, and perseverance.
Since Memorial Day weekend marks the “unofficial” start of summer….I hope for everyone that it is a summer to remember…and Eva Cate agrees….Have a wonderful, memorable summer!
John Turner
Becky Dingle
