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One of my earliest and favorite broadcasting memories is listening to the legendary Paul Harvey do his "Rest Of The Story" segments.
He would masterfully tell some story, while leaving out some key clues, until the end, that is, when he would spring the surprising twist on you. That was always followed by a long pause and his sign off, "And now you know the REST of the story."
I feel like borrowing that line with today's featured video, Art With A Heart.
When you watch it you will see cousins Lisa Ussery and Lori Guadagno talk about their amazing art program at Wolfson Children's Hospital in Jacksonville, Florida.
Talk about "What's Possible!" It's possible these kids are actually getting a better art experience and education in the hospital than they do in their schools. It's pretty intense work, teaching kids and families who face life threatening illnesses every day.
Soon after they started the program, Lori honestly wondered if she was cut out for such an emotional work experience. At another time in her life, she told me she would've said to her cousin, "Uh, how about a nice little day camp for healthy kids instead?"
But you see, Lori has been through something in her life that she could've never imagined. She lost her only brother on 9/11. Richard Guadagno was a passenger on United Flight 93. You remember---that was the flight where the passengers rose up as heroes and forced it into a field in Shanksville, PA, rather than let the hijackers steer it toward Washington, DC.
Lori shared with me that her brother was biologist and wildlife manager with the National Park Service, stationed in Humboldt Bay in Northern California. It was a job that required him to have all sorts of training she never would have imagined. But you never know what kind of characters you'll encounter in the wilds of a national park, so Richard was trained in things like firearms and hand-to-hand combat. Knowing that information tells Lori and her family that Richard was most definitely involved in helping bring that plane down. A true hero if there ever was one.
Yet, that was very little comfort while she was mourning her only brother. The 9/11 tragedy struck just weeks before Lori and her cousin Lisa were set to launch the Art With A Heart program. She was paralyzed with grief. How could she move to Jacksonville, Florida to work with kids who were facing death themselves? Then she realized, "How could she not?"
Today, Lori says, "I thank those kids every day for saving my life. They help me heal."
She adds, "In a surprising way my brother's death prepared me for this important work. These children look death in the face every day. Now, so do I. Before, I had no capacity to deal with death. Now, I'm working with kids who deal with it every moment of their lives. Together, we understand what it is to live on that edge."
As Paul Harvey might say, "and now you know the REST of the story."
Actually, there's still even more. Lori shares it with me in my new book, "What's Possible! 50 True Stories of People Who Dared To Dream They Could Make A Difference." Hers is what I call an "Inside Out" story. That's when someone takes a terrible thing that has happened to them, turns it "inside out" to transform their lives and the world around them. They are my favorite stories to tell. They acknowledge that bad things happen in our world. I get that. These people inspire me because they show us all the real power is in deciding what to do with the pain and experience you would never choose in a million years.
Thank you, Lori. And thank you, Richard.
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