Last night I met an 8-year-old girl. When she was 5, after many diffferent doctor visits and no answers except being told she was dying, she was diagnosed with a rare allergy to light. She's not simply allergic to the sun, but even lightbulbs. There is only one other person in the world who has this illness, a middle-aged man in England. Her doctor has made a sunscreen especially for her that she has to drink. This allows her to be in the sun for up to 10 minutes instead of the usual 2. She has to use a special umbrella at all times while outside. Most of her time in school, she has had to stay in one special room while the rest of her class went to art and P.E. and recess. For library time, they would ask what kinds of books she wanted and bring her a couple (However, her principal recently received a grant that paid for changes at school that now allow her to have much more movement around the building.). Exposure to light causes her organs to fail, and she literally begins burning from the inside out.
BUT during one of her particularly long and difficult hospital stays in Chicago, several players and coaches from the Chicago Cubs came and visited her. Most of them said hello and stayed for a few minutes and then left, but James Russell and Lester Strode stayed for a long time and played with the children. The little girl fell in love. From that moment on, she has referred to him as her "honey." He had been traded to the Braves for a short time, but when she learned he was back with the Cubs, she danced around the house and cheered.
She talked a great deal about him and was wearing his spring training jersey, which hung like a dress around her tiny body. A man in the front row next to the bullpen gave up his seat so she could watch him walk out and see him again. Her whole face glowed, as if all the light she had to avoid was shining right out of her at that moment. It was one of the most beautiful things I've ever seen, the way her face looked when she saw James.
He did a pretty small thing for a sick girl 3 years ago that she and her family will never forget. The cameras were gone. It wasn't about PR. It was just a kind thing to do.
Stories like this make me almost forget about the gross things in life. It's a small thing to be kind to people, but the results are incalculable.
In the lower right corner, you can see the top of the girl's umbrella, and the woman next to her is her mom. They're watching the bullpen boys.
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