“And in the end…”
Dateline: Dining Room Table Stories
Which child lost,
could have found the cure for cancer.
If they grew up.
Which child lost,
would have been the next Mozart.
If they grew up.
Which child…
What of the future have we lost, that Friday, December 14,
in Sandy Hook.
When we kill our young, our future also dies.
“…the love…”
“db, I was sitting there watching the news about it, sitting there with my 9-year-old daughter, Leah…”
And then, as I sat at my dining room table talking to Timmy Horton in Orange, Texas…the line went silent.
At first I held the cell phone out and silently cursed Verizon, but then, I heard…a sniff.
“Timmy, dude, you okay…”
Silence….then, “Yeah, db…it’s just tough when you have a child that age…”
Timmy, my friend, it is tough when you have a child of ANY age. There are some things, like the Sandy Hook School tragedy that you can’t explain, even if your children are big and grown, so then all you can do is hug them,
and whisper,
Love wins.
And hope it is so.
“…you take…”
Green Jersey’s for Sandy Hook was Timmy Horton’s idea…and dozens of Elite anglers and B.A.S.S. will remember the victims of the tragedy when they take to the stage tomorrow wearing not their normal Elite jerseys, but green and white jerseys…the colors of Sandy Hook School.
And after the tournament, all those jerseys will be taken off, signed by the anglers and shipped off to be auctioned by the 26 Angels Foundation, a foundation started by Connecticut B.A.S.S Nation members to help the victims of the tragedy.
Foundation.
Foundation.
Fancy pants word.
Big city words.
Let me tell you WHO the foundation is. Fifteen dues paying, card carrying members of the B.A.S.S Nation. Red Sox lovers, NY Yankee lovers, and possibly maybe a NY Met guy.
Guys like you…anglers.
Working stiffs. When I called the PRESIDENT of the foundation, B.A.S.S. Nation member Jerry Hammond, the dude was tearing apart a bathroom, and is a carpenter and painter who works for himself.
“Are you kidding me, db, what the Elite anglers are doing is incredible.”
It was Jerry’s wife, Natalie, a teacher at the school who was shot three times by the killer, it was both Jerry and Natalie’s idea to start the foundation…not some big Madison Avenue run foundation, but small town, neighbors, friends, Main St. type of foundation.
The small local type of guys, and lady, Sylvia Morris, President of the CT B.A.S.S. Nation, who would in your time of need come to help you with open arms…not red tape.
“…is equal to…”
Talked to Vinny Mucci, B.A.S.S Nation member, owns an Appliance Repair business…treasurer of the foundation, “db, those jerseys will be a huge benefit to us; we will be able to do so much because of that gift.”
On May 5, 2013 on Candlewood Lake in Connecticut, just minutes from the Sandy Hook tragedy, there will be a tournament like no other tournament.
The 26 Angels Non-Tournament, Tournament.
Non-Tournament because there will be no payout, there can be NO PAYOUT, because for what was done at that school, there can only be payback.
Payback to the victims of Sandy Hook.
You can register for the 26 Angels Tournament by going here: www.26angelsfoundation.org, and you can register to fish it even if you can’t make it by making an in-spirit donation on the site.
All the money, instead of going to payouts, will go to paybacks…helping the victims.
A side story, what you might not know: Natalie, still recovering from her wounds, sent out an email to the parents of the children who survived the attack. The email was to invite those children to the 26 Angels Tournament…just for a day of fun.
And the parents responded…almost 200 children will be at the tournament for a little derby of their own.
A derby to catch some fish.
A derby for laughter.
But more important to the children,
a derby for hugs,
for whispers,
of,
Love Wins.
“..the love you make.”
“The End”
The Beatles
db