And a Happy Friday to you all! Winter’s finally over here in NYC and summer has already begun, so, you know, spring, I guess we’ll catch you next year or something.
Lots of good news to report this week, but wanted to start with another very cool prom story.
Joe Moreno, of Corpus Christi, Tex., needed a date for his upcoming senior prom. So he decided to ask the one woman he really loved more than any other: Mom.
Joe’s Mom Vanessa never got to go to her prom, as she had to leave high school upon becoming pregnant at age 17.
“It was a sacrifice that I had made. My sacrifice was to give my children my all. I put everything into him. I push them to become everything they can,” she said.
My mom’s the most important person to me. I really love her and everything she’s done for me,” he said.
Good job, Joe.
**Next up, this is one incredibly story, once again from my man Steve Hartman of CBS News. A bar owner in Wrightsville Beach, N.C. (a town I used to live about two miles from, really beautiful place) learned that a customer, a total stranger, had lost her wallet and wedding ring in his establishment one night last month.
What Jimmy Gilleece did next completely changed the lives of two people. Remarkable stuff considering how far he went to not only get the ring and wallet back, but to reach out to the troubled soul who took it.
Jimmy, if I’m ever in Wrighstville Beach again (shout out to Caroline’s bar there, where I used to do really bad but enthusiastic karaoke of Prince, Bruce Springsteen and others!), I’m buying everyone in your establishment a drink. And you too.
**Finally today, this made me laugh pretty hard, and it’s for a good cause, to boot.
I first heard about this on Wait Wait, Don’t Tell Me: Have you ever wanted to participate in a charity run, but don’t actually want to run very far? This might be the race for you.
A group in Boerne, Texas is hosting “The Boerne 0.5K,” a 0.3 mile race, and it’s being billed as a “running event for the rest of us.”
That’s right, not a 5k, but a .5K, and man I’m tired just thinking about those 300-odd yards I’d have to run. I have so many questions:
Are there volunteers with water and encouragement at the .25k mark? Can i run through a tape with my arms in the air even if I don’t have time to lift my arms once the race starts, before I’m at the finish line?
And most importantly of all: Is there a shortcut available so I don’t have to run that far?
But all kidding aside, this is a pretty amazing cause. From the story: “The “very fun, tongue-in-cheek event” intended to “lampoon the typical 5K” will benefit the charitable organization Blessings in a Backpack, an organization that provides food on the weekends for children who depend on federal free and reduced meal programs offered through their schools.
Organizers of the event are giving out many incentives to those who participate in and complete the nearly 547-yard race, including race T-shirts, free beer at both the beginning and the end of the race, and even “a pretentious oval Euro-style 0.5K sticker that you can attach to your rear windshield.”
There is even a VIP option — for $25, you get a “bigger” medal without even having to run the race.
That’s awesome. Blessings in a Backpack is a wonderful organization that can use all the publicity and money it can get. And this race should help a lot.
Wide World of Stuff 