I saw this guy on the local news channel here in L.A. I then went to Google News to read up on this rags to riches type story. More importantly I wanted to know more about this man who has conquered many of his own demons and found some level of solitude on the side of the road.
The first thing I read was a blog post from the Washington Post: http://voices.washingtonpost.com/blog-post/2011/01/golden-voiced_homeless_man_hea.html
In it, Melissa Bell reminds us of an little experiment done a few years back where world renowned Joshua Bell
went into a subway with his multimillion dollar violin and proceed to play classical music for the people going about their daily lives. Guess what? Hardly anybody took notice of who was playing or the perfectly beautiful sounds coming from the subway tunnel. What does this tell you about the toll taken by the hustle and bustle of daily American life?This calls for a Ferris Beuller
Quote: "Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it!"And so it goes for Ted Williams, a man on the side of the road with a pair of pipes destined for announcing. Two + years of sobriety and his "will work for food" sign had golden tonsils too.
Follow his story and see if you aren't as amazed as I have been. This story for me is also so inspiring and humbling.
Part One from Early Show on CBS: http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2011/01/05/earlyshow/main7215450.shtml
Part Two from The Early Show on CBS: http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2011/01/06/earlyshow/leisure/celebspot/main7218743.shtml
This is a testament to faith, willpower and positive thinking. But the back story is what I'm interested in. There's no need to delve into the deep dark recesses of Ted Williams' life and addictions and how he got to that "lowly" place. What's most important was that through the grace of God he found strength, salvation and was able to rise from his own ashes. Pardon the pun.
Ted Williams is a Phoenix. Fly Ted Williams, Fly! God's Speed Brother! May the wind always be at your back. Thank you for taking the journey you have taken. You will touch many and encourage millions.
