This weekend I went to Brighton for an interview with my non-profit sector class. We talked to an independent fundraiser for small organizations. It was kind of funny.... we told him we'd meet him at a certain coffee shop that actually didn't exist, but none of us knew that. So we sat outside a coffee shop close to where this shop was supposed to be and we wrote his name on a piece of paper and set it on the table and we would hold it up as people walked by. It was hilarious that we were trying to stereotype the kind of person we thought he'd be. Quite a few people chuckled at us as they walked by, but then Frannie saw a man who looked like he was looking for a cafe that wasn't there. I was thinking, "There's no way that could be him!" He laughed at our sign, looked around, and said, "Well... I guess it isn't here!" And we were all like, "Really? Its YOU! You're the man we're looking for!" It may be one of those things where you had to be there but trust me, it was funny.
Brian was a really cool guy. He bought us coffee... but that's not what made him cool. He is actually starting up a non-profit himself! He's in the process of collecting data to prove the need for his non-profit. Not too long ago (I couldn't pick up on how long ago exactly) he and his wife had a son who died at 8 weeks old- I didn't catch why either- and he was without oxygen for 40 or so minutes, but they revived him, and consequently/obviously has some special needs now. His non-profit is designed to help parents of special needs children recieve counseling because there is always help for the child (people coming to sit with the child, giving money for medical bills, etc) but there is rarely anyone to help the parents (sit and talk with them, help them through emotional issues, etc) so his program will hopefully provide counseling for these families so the parents can maintain a healthy relationship as they deal with changes so in turn they can be stability for the child. He's having a group of parents in these types of situation keep a journal for 10 months without going through counseling and another group keep a journal while going through counseling for 10 months, and then he'll try to gauge the mental health/ health of the family relationships after that period of time. I just think that's amazing cool. He saw a need- he needed that need, and he is working to provide for other people in his similar situation!
On Monday, we're having a lecturer named Michael Foot coming. We actually have had to postpone his lecture from the first week until now because he had double knee replacement surgery (I think he's 89/90 years old). He assigned us to read a few pages about WWII history, visit a war museum, and watch this film call "For One English Officer", which I thought would be just another Hollywood WWII flick, but it wasn't! It was absoluetely amazing and I think every Samford student should have to watch it (be priveledged to watch it!) So... beginning of the story- Andrew Gerow Hodges (of Hodges Chapel on Samford's campus) attended Howard College (eventually became Samford) and was on the football team, got scholarships to Oxford, etc. He worked for the American Red Cross in WWII and worked with German officers to exchange German POWs for Allied POWs under the agreement that these POWs would not fight once released and the Germans wouldn't have to waste their space and food on these Allied men if they just gave them back to the Allies. Andrew Gerow Hodges got 149 Allied POWs released from the Germans! The extra cool part is this English officer, Michael Foot (OUR LECTURER) was captured by the Germans and tried 4 or 5 times to escape (each has a really cool story attatched). When Andy Hodges went to rescue some of these POWs he looked at the list of POWs and saw 3 men missing- 2 Americans that had escaped the night before, and Michael Foot. He asked the Germans why Michael Foot wasn't on the list- they were surprised he'd noticed. They said he was too valuable- he'd tried to escape several times and he knew too much. Hodges said, "Well, its all or nothing. I want Foot on this list." The Germans said, "You would sacrifice all of these men for this one English officer?" Hodges said, "Of course" and tried to work out an exchange deal with the Germans. The German officers tried to get 5 German POWs for the exchange of Michael Foot, and Hodges looked at that German officer and said, "I thought you Germans prided yourselves on being good fighters, and you think this Englishman is worth five of your men!?" The German officer jumped up and slammed a fist on the table three times and said, "Fine! One for one, you can take Foot!" Foot was in and out of consciousness, but they got him out and got him the best medical treatment they could, and he's alive to come teach my class on Monday! Is that not insane crazy that Andrew Gerow Hodges of Samford University (major major donor) rescued my Monday's lecturer from WWII?! That still blows my mind. That's such an amazing Samford legacy!
Side note: Emily and I found out that our dads went to med school together (same class) and tonight I found out her grandfather was stationed in the Pacific in the Navy during WWII and my grandfather was a Naval medic in the Pacific. What if our dads went to med school together and both of their dads knew each other in WWII and now the granddaughters live across the hall from each other in London? haha, wouldn't that be amazing? So, Grandma, can you ask Papa if he knows John Cargille (I'm sure he doesn't, but that would be a really small world if he did!)
