A couple of weeks back I shared a newsletter titled “Lucky - or Prepared?” that garnered a lot of positive feedback from folks who passed on their own stories with me that were as much "life" related as they were "sport" related. It really got me thinking about those non sport related situations where good things happen to good people because of their conviction. So, with Mother’s Day upon us, please allow me to go outside my sport-sampling, physical literacy space and share a story about my mom - and my family - that I hope will make your heart warm as much as it does mine.
To begin - let’s start with an activity. Go ahead and “Google” these three words - “pope kissing baby” and set aside the image that comes up either in the back of you mind - or keep it open in a tab on your desktop.
Let me share the story as it unfolded before me. I was at my desk at Hall High School on the morning of Wednesday, April 3, 2013 - just a few days after Easter Sunday that year, when I get an email from my youngest sister Alannah with the subject line:
Johnny meets Pope Francis.
There was no context, just the raw footage I share in the link below. At this point, I had actually forgotten that my sister was in Rome with both of my parents, her husband Noel and their very young son, Johnny. Alannah and Noel had graciously offered to take my parents to Italy for the first time in their lives. As devout Catholics, who were born and raised in rural Ireland, this was literally the trip of a lifetime. It was truly a pilgrimage for them and something I remember my mother in particular dreaming and talking about when we would go on long walks during my childhood in Upstate NY. To know they were strolling through Vatican City and visiting the likes of the Sistine Chapel gave me goosebumps. But -as if that wasn't enough -up popped this video on my email.
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In it you can see my sister near the end getting her son back - FROM THE POPE and you can hear her and my mom sort of laugh/crying. And that’s my brother in law Noel saying “Thank you Papa” doing his best Italian in an Irish accent! So, without context - I literally thought that somehow the 5 of them just happened to be walking around Vatican Square when the Pope decided to just go out for a little jaunt in the neighborhood and greet the few citizens and tourists that happened to be walking about. And then we didn’t hear from them again until “the photo” started popping up everywhere - and I mean EVERYWHERE when we started to get the full story.
Starting Easter Sunday, youth from around the world started to camp out - literally camp -
as in sleep on the streets
- knowing that the Pope was going to address those in attendance a few days later. For the first time in his Papacy he would denounce the abuse that had been happening in the Church. It was going to be widely attended and covered globally. So, my sister gets up early that Wednesday in hopes that she can find a spot where maybe they’ll be able to see the Pope. In a brilliant move, she taped a fluorescent orange poster to the top of a 7 ft pole that she carried in so later that morning she might be found by the rest of the party (aka, my parents, her husband and child). Her timing could not have been better. It was the wee hours as she arrived, with young campers still sleeping, they opened up the gates to let visitors vie for position. Within seconds - in front of all the folks who had been camping for days - she made herself to the front - or had she? There was no clear spot of where the Pope would address the crowd. A couple of hours later - my elderly parents, escorted by a charming red headed man holding a baby keep pointing to the orange poster at the front of the crowd - and the next thing you know - the party was reunited. And within minutes of their arrival - around the corner comes none other than the man - who Catholics like to call, “The Holy Father”.
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It’s hard for me to overstate this, and even though I said it before, I will use the word again. My parents are DEVOUT in the purest sense of the word. This isn’t like being a Justin Timberlake fan and around the corner comes JT. This is divinity stuff for them and their conviction and faith has always inspired me. In particular, I tried to picture my mother being that close to the Pope. With joy, I envisioned myself watching her watch her youngest grandchild be embraced by him. My mom wasn’t in the video - I could only hear her faintly, so I just had to use my imagination.
The now infamous photo you “Googled” earlier in all likelihood got you this hit.
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Yep - that’s my nephew Johnny! The next morning, my brother David, who lives in Merida, Mexico picked up the local paper and that photo, like it was in publications in cities and countries around the globe, was on the front cover. Months later, it would show up on mass cards in Churches far and wide. And now - when I want to impress friends at parties - I tell them to google "pope kissing baby."
But a few days later - perhaps my favorite photo of all time appeared courtesy of CBS newswire. I no longer had to use my imagination to picture my mother in that moment. The now famous photo of Johnny was not the only image captured that day.
This photo also appeared.
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At first glance, it might not look like much, but I came to learn that well over 150,000 people were in attendance. It wasn't like he was on stage - he was driving through a geographic area and it just so happens that the spot my sister decided to set up - was the spot where the pope would ask his assistant to bring that young boy to him - and that's the spot where my mom got to show the joy, and faith, and strength and love she shows in this image - as
the two of them - my Mom and Pope Francis - appear to have eye contact and reach for each other.
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So that's my Mother's Day Story. I wrote recently that you have to put yourself in a position to get lucky. My mom has - and continues to live a wonderful life - and she deserved that moment. And I am grateful that you have allowed my to share it with you!
Happy Mother's Day!
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There's a 2-4-1 Camp Coming to a Campus Near You
Click on Photos for details about each location.
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Kingswood Oxford
West Hartford, CT
June 25-July 6
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Suffield Academy
Suffield, CT
July 9-13
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Denver South High
Denver, CO
July 16-20
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Farmington
Public Schools
Farmington, CT
July 23-27
August 13-17
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Hopkins School
Moved to Summer 2019 due to inordinate amount of snow days conflicting with summer 2018 dates.
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Narragansett
Parks and Rec
Coming Summer 2019
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Want to Bring a 2-4-1 Program to Your Community?
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Contact us
crossover@241Sports.com
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2-4-1 Sports Supports the Pan-Mass Challenge to raise funds for the Jimmy Fund. This past weekend - our friends in Suffield raised over $50,000 at the PMC Kids Ride. And there was our good friend Dr. Lindsay Distefano from the University of Connecticut helping the cause as her youngest son Luke is currently being treated with the support of the Jimmy Fund. Please click on the logo below if you want to support Luke and help them get to their goal of $60,000
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With brave little Luke Distefano and his proud older brother!
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LAST CALL
Please
contact us if you want to be a 2018/19 Sponsor of 2-4-1 Sports
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2-4-1 Sponsors and Partners
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Thank you to our sponsors/partners - they help make it possible to assist those who otherwise wouldn't be able to afford programs such as ours be able to do so!
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Thanks to all who supported this year's run!
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2-4-1 Sports Featured on Multiple Podcasts
Click on Images Below to listen in!
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In this latest podcast, 2-4-1 Sports Director speaks about everything from social emotional learning to long-term athletic development in this exciting conversation with fellow QCC member, Martin Reader.
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Steve Boyle talks about life as a "Walk-On" and how that's applied to many things moving forward including starting 2-4-1 Sports on his second appearance on the
Winning Youth Coaching Podcast.
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From a few years back, this story of how 2-4-1 got its start and rose to national recognition still resonates. Take a listen as the real value of multi-sport participation is discussed on the
TeamSnap Podcast.
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Feel Good Footer
A "Life's 2 Short 4 Just 1 Sport" Promo if we've every seen one from our Friends at
Active for Life
in Canada!
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2-4-1 Sports
www.241sports.com
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