The In Crowd

L-->R: Chy Johnson and Carson Jones

 I admit it. I'm a sucker for feel good stories, especially those that involve sports.  Did you see this one?

Chy Jones is a sophomore in Queen Creek, Arizona.  She has a brain disorder that affects her development and she basically has the mental development of a third grader.  She was being bullied at school.  Mean girls threw trash at her.  Her mom didn't know what to do, but watched helplessly as her cheerful, sunny-dispositioned daughter grew to dread going to school every day.

In desperation, Chy's mom reached out to a kid in her Mormon ward congregation who also went to school with Chy--Carson Jones--the senior starting quarterback for the football team.  Chy's mom asked Carson Jones if he could find out who was doing the bullying--so that Chy's mom could do something--anything.

Instead, Carson Jones found Chy at school and asked Chy to sit at his table during lunch and eat with him and his teammates.  Chy has eaten with the team every day since.  Miraculously, the bullying stopped.  Chy calls the football team "My Boys" because she knows that they look out for her and care about her.

This is the type of story that illustrates all that is good about our kids, high school sports, and our humanity.  Oh, by the way, Carson Jones is planning on serving a mission next year, has a 4.0+ GPA, and has the football team undefeated on the season!

The story has gone national.  Please read Rick Reilly's outstanding article here...

Here is a DesNews article as well:

Home Alone!

Did anyone see this story last week?  10 year old Paityn Mock was home from school because she was sick when a burglar entered the house.  She was on the phone with her mom, who had just dashed out to the grocery store.  (What parent doesn't do this?)

Paityn then hung up and called 911 while her mom raced home from the grocery store.  The 911 operator was able to get Paityn to make a break out of the house through the garage.  The girl then hid in the front yard behind a tree.

Meanwhile, Paityn's mom was doing like a 100 miles an hour to get home.  She was flying past cars, passing with abandon, and running through stop signs.  Paityn's mom was so fast that she actually beat police to the house and ran inside.

Paityn Mock

I choked up a little when I heard  the 911 call where Paityn helplessly yells: "Mommy!  Mommy! No! Don't go in there!"

Cop cars rolled up seconds later and arrested one of the burglars, while a couple got away.

Frankly, I think that the burglars were lucky that Paityn's mom took it easy on them.  I know some mothers that are fiercely protective of their kids (as they should be).  Kinda like the "Mama Grizzlies" that Sarah Palin referred to in one of her interviews.

I even know one mom who honestly believes that under the right circumstances, she could kill a man with her bare hands.  I think that those would have been the right circumstances for this mom and pretty much any other red-blooded American mom.  These robbers ought to count themselves lucky that they were only arrested!

Ripped From the Headlines

A colleague of mine at the office likes to send out funny stuff via email on a daily basis.  From time to time, some of it actually is funny. I thought that this recent batch of true headlines was worth sharing...Enjoy!

Let's hope the new one does a better job!

Oh, is that how it works?

No Man Left Behind

Ben Baltz, 11 Years Old, Is Carried Across The Finish Line by
Marine Private First Class Matthew Morgan, 19 years old
(Photo taken by Kim Baltz)

I heard about this story on the radio yesterday.  It touched me--not just because I love doing triathlons--but because it's the type of "feel-good", inspirational story that we need more of these days.  I later stumbled across the story on the net and felt like I had to share it!

Here's the gist of what happened:

Ben Baltz is 11 years old and he's also a bone cancer survivor.  The cancer took one of his legs.  On Sunday, he was competing in a triathlon in Pensacola, Florida (the Sea Turtle Tri).  Ben completed the swim and bike portions without any problems, but during the run, a screw in his prosthetic leg came loose and fell off.  Ben fell down as well.

Pfc. Matthew Morgan, a United States Marine (from San Diego) who was volunteering at the event came over to help.  Ben struggled to fix his prosthetic leg but realized he couldn't do it on his own.  At that point in time, Mathew picked Ben up and said: "Hey, you're going to be taken home by the Marines today."

Other Marines who were volunteering lined up into a column of twos and they all ran to the finish together.

I loved this quote from Pfc. Morgan: "He was going to finish the race no matter what, but I told him to jump on and we finished the race together," Morgan said."

You can read the full story here.

The Marine Volunteers from the Camp Pendleton Triathlon

The story reminded me of the many Marines that volunteer at the Camp Pendleton Triathlon that our family does every year.  I've always admired them and this story and made me more grateful for their efforts as well as the efforts of all of the other volunteers of the many races that I've done (especially all the volunteers from the St. George Ironman!).

I love the challenge of doing these races, but I love even more the inspiration that people like Ben Baltz--as he conquers the challenges in his life--and Pfc. Matthew Morgan--as he reminds us of that quote attributed to Abraham Lincoln--give us:

"No man stands so tall as when he stoops to help a child."

Semper Fi!