Day 265: A Beautiful Story of HOPE

Well by now most of you have heard of the Ted Williams story, if you haven't, I'm not sure where you've been as it's led the news for days now.

Ted had been raised in a good family, had a good life until drugs & alcohol ripped him of that life. He fell so deep that for the past ten years he's been sleeping in a tent under a freeway overpass in Cleveland. He was panhandling with a sign for money. You know the people you avoid making eye contact with when you are stopped at a red light, that was Ted for TEN years.

Until one day a man who took the time to speak to Ted, who happened to be a news producer, discovered that Mr. Williams had a special gift... his baritone voice. And what a voice it is. The producer videotaped Ted speaking and posted the images on You Tube. What happened next, as they say, is history. The You Tube clip went viral and Ted's life has been changed over night.

He's appeared on every National news program, Oprah Winfrey wants him to do voice over work for her new network OWN, the Cleavland Cavaliers want him to do voice over work for their professional basketball team, Kraft Foods has picked him up to record commercials... it goes on an on.

The story is clearly one of HOPE. It illustrates that no matter what your situation, or how down you are (and most of us can agree that homelessness and panhandling are the lowest we can go), you can still change your destiny.

While revelations have surfaced that he is the father to 9 children and has not provided for them, I recognize by no means is Ted a saint, but a person who had one time enjoyed a life of decency who fell into the abyss of drugs.

This is his moment . If he can stay clean, reunite with his family, make good on all the years lost, then he just may become the first miracle story of 2011.