If you have lived around here long enough, you may have heard about her. If you haven't heard her story, you should. Your kids should. Especially this time of year.
In what must surely be some of the most remarkable 12 minutes ever aired on radio, this polite, articulate, intelligent girl became the most heroic person I never met. Battling a rare form of bone cancer with little to no chance of recovery, she had just days before been paid a visit by representatives of the Make-A-Wish Foundation, who asked Hope what wish she had that they could fulfill.
But first, she had a question of her own for the Make-A-Wish folks. How many kids, she wanted to know, were on the list behind her waiting for their wishes. One hundred fifty-five, she was told.
Her wish? Make sure all those other kids knew their wishes would be granted.
By Christmas.
Just a couple of weeks away.
That wish would cost about $1 million that Make-A-Wish did not have. We could do it, she said. It took a little longer to raise (about four weeks) — during the holiday shopping, and spending, season — more than $1.1 million by Jan. 16, 2004. That's when the first "Celebration of Hope" gala, hastily planned and executed, was held.
Hope had died 12 days earlier, on Jan. 4, less than three weeks after we all first met her. The voice of Hope was silenced, but the spirit of Hope continues even today, through the March Forth With Hope Foundation, thanks in large part to the work of her parents, Stuart and Shelby Stout, and retired Carolina Panther Kevin Donnelley.
Throughout the interview, it was obvious that Larson, who dubs his 9 a.m.-noon show a "professional radio broadcast," was choking back the tears. You can hear it from the first exchange, when Hope asked Larson how he was doing, to the end when she told him it was an "honor" to be interviewed via telephone on his show.
Without saying it, mostly because he couldn't, Larson assured her that the honor was all his. And it was ours.
On the monumental task of raising $1 million in just a few weeks to make these wishes come true, Hope told Larson, "I have to make sure these kids get their wish. It's going to happen. I know, with the power of God and with all these people hearing about this, I know this can happen, 100 percent."
If you want a lesson in humility, or if you want to impart one on someone else, this link will take you to the interview: www.wbt.com/larson/thekids/index.aspx.
It's a lesson in grace under intense difficulty, in kindness, in generosity, in caring for others first, and in giving rather than receiving; one that is particularly poignant this time of year. I challenge you to listen to the entire interview, especially the last 10 seconds, with a dry eye.
Afterward, go out and be one of "Hope's Heroes." That's not an official group. I just made that up. Start your own personal movement. Help make the wish of someone you've never met, or someone you know who needs it, come true. As Christmas draws near, there are still plenty of chances to carry on the legacy of Hope in your own way.
Hold Stuart and Shelby Stout in your thoughts this time of year, and thank them for giving us all Hope.
