Wednesday, March 30, 2011

A chance meeting on a plane with an exceptional young man

About a week ago, I met an exceptional man on my flight from Indianapolis (on my way back to Arizona after visiting family there). His name is Josh Bleill. Josh lost both his legs as a Marine in Iraq during the war. Josh was traveling with his wife, Nikki, and their two month-old daughter, Allie. We had a good conversation on the hour-long flight. I was impressed with his attitude and approach to life.

Josh is the Colts Community Spokesman. It was interesting to talk with him given my family's passion for the Colts NFL football team. I started following the sport closely last year after I developed a real interest in American football once I understood more about strategy in the sport. It must have been difficult for the team and Peyton Manning (the quarterback) to lose in the playoffs in the last few minutes of the game.

Before the end of our flight, I decided to give Josh a gift: President Barack Obama's book Of Thee I Sing: A Letter to my Daughters. I thanked him for his service to our country. I didn't sign the book because it not up to me to do so. I think it would be great if our President, at the very least, signed his book.

Today, I went online to find out more about Josh. I learned that he wrote a book titled, One Step at a Time: A Young Marine's Story of Courage. He also can be booked to speak at events. For more information, go to www.colts.com/onestep.

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