photo courtesy of Durham Academy Facebook page
Sometimes in the midst of circumstances that do not seem fair, dreams come true. And an individual touches a whole community in more ways than he ever anticipated. Meet Chris Rosati, a 1989 graduate of Durham Academy. I didn't teach him because he didn't attend our middle school, but I remember watching him play soccer and hearing stories about him. Chris has ALS, commonly known as Lou Gehrig's disease. It affects the patient's muscles. There is no cure. I first learned about this disease by reading Mitch Albom's book Tuesdays With Morrie. Anyway, Chris recently talked to our upper schoolers about life. He told them that one of his lifelong dreams has been to hijack a Krispy Kreme Doughnut truck and hand out the pastries randomly. After talking to the students, he decided to go for it. A Facebook page was created with the help of friends, hoping to get enough Likes so that the corporate headquarters for Krispy Kreme would take notice. KK heard about it within 8 hours, as the story goes. The bus rolled into the Durham Academy upper school parking lot on Tuesday. Boxes of hot glazed doughnuts were passed out to the surprised kids with the message to pay it forward, to make a difference in someone's day.
" I told y'all to live out your dreams, as dumb as they may be sometimes... You get 12 chances in that box to make someone happy."
The bus also made the rounds at Duke Medical Center, visiting patients with cancer and paying a visit to Chris' doctor there. I wasn't at the upper school when it happened. I had a meeting and was on my up there, passing the bus as it was leaving. I got the chance to talk to a couple of former students who accompanied Chris on his adventure. It was a good day, a very good day.
Chris and his wife, Anna, have established a non-profit, Inspire MEdia to help people fund their own projects to lift others' spirits.
The link below has more of the story and pictures.
" I told y'all to live out your dreams, as dumb as they may be sometimes... You get 12 chances in that box to make someone happy."
The bus also made the rounds at Duke Medical Center, visiting patients with cancer and paying a visit to Chris' doctor there. I wasn't at the upper school when it happened. I had a meeting and was on my up there, passing the bus as it was leaving. I got the chance to talk to a couple of former students who accompanied Chris on his adventure. It was a good day, a very good day.
Chris and his wife, Anna, have established a non-profit, Inspire MEdia to help people fund their own projects to lift others' spirits.
The link below has more of the story and pictures.
Bon appétit to dreams and to making them come true!
1 comment:
I would love to get in contact with chris if anyone knows how. My mother passed 1-1-96 of ALS. find me on facebook..LORI BANKS Dayton ohio. thanks
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