One year ago today, I challenged myself to post 📫 a Positive Story everyday for 365 straight days. It was a goal of mine and this morning 🌄 when I penned a story on Volleyball 🏐 Coach Cindy Edwards I received notification that I had accomplished the Mission !!!
We all have Good Days, Great Days and days that are less than. The challenge is to stay positive even when your day is not what you had hoped for.
Roughly 15 or so years ago I took our youngest daughter on a five campus College loop. Rebecca was exceptionally Bright and kind hearted so I wanted her to experience the same joy that Athletes do when they make their five visits to potential landing spots.
My lone condition was I wanted Duke University and the University of Virginia to be on the list. Kiddo added UVA-WISE, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and Bridgewater College.
We set out to visit the five campuses and four of them had one common thread – they all made a hard sell for you to choose them. Then there was the folks at Duke who spent the day breaking down why you wouldn’t get accepted there.
Decades earlier, before my accident, I had my ❤ set on attending Duke but my lack of a proper High School 🏫 education prevented that from being a realistic thing. So I lived on Campus and pumped gas ⛽ for folks that were smarter than me and by a wide margin.
The ties to Duke Trace back to the Hospital 🏥 and the number of lives of members of my family 👪 they tried to save over the years. I excepted the fact that I wasn’t even close to being a candidate.
Fast Forward to the fifth of my five children, Rebecca. While I am known for taking credit for numerous things, I never took credit for the level of smarts that both of my daughters ended up with. Older Sister Sabrena graduated 🎓 from Liberty University and followed that with two more degrees and now teaches as a Professor at the University of Georgia.
The story went like this – we don’t care about your SAT scores or your ranking in your High School class. We want you to have a vision of how you will make the World 🌎 a better place.
While she didn’t make the cut that day, this is not a Sad story. Rebecca flourished on The Grounds at UVA and all while a teenager. She has since added a second degree and also is a Teacher now.
I left the Campus that I treat as my home deep in thought after a second round of effort came up short. Making the World 🌎 a better place ? What the heck would that even look like ?
My personal effort to make the World 🌎 a better place has been ongoing since that day. The past four years it has taken place in the Village of Laurel Fork, Virginia.
I’m just a guy that believes in God, Country, Family, Military and making other people Smile 😃. The tag line is Duke, UVA and wherever I stay. Everyone should 💘 where they live.
The challenge of creating material for 365 straight days was just as hard as it sounds. The key 🔑 is getting other people to participate in the process. There’s plenty of room on the Train 🚆 called Positivity and tickets 🎟 are free !
Carroll County is full of prominent people who treasure Duke University for the same reasons. Not because of the final score of a ballgame but because they are in the business of saving lives and trying to make the World a Better place.
One of those three is down there right now and I’m counting the days until we can reconnect.
If you see me out and about and you want on board, Please stop ✋ me and ask how ?
If you stumble across me and feel a need to roll your eyes 👀 just know that I’m an Aaron Sorkin wannabe that’s on a Mission from God to wake ⏰ up everyday and make someone else smile !
In closing, business was good this week, thanks to the duo of Casey and Combs. Casey purchased a timeshare from me in Boca Raton with just one condition – he wanted the interior walls to all be Duke Blue !
A trip around the Sun is in the books 📚 and hopefully at least 365 people not named Bill Gallimore smiled along the way.
Some key people that won’t be tagged in the Facebook Post –
Kris Richardson – for being my Partner in Mischief
Marion Harris – for raising 3 Amazing Daughters that he shares with us
Allen Worrell – for being a Top Shelf Homer !
Ron Cochran – For EVERYTHING
Rick Nester – for Blind Faith
Shawn Montgomery – for being Shawn Montgomery
Alyssa Ervin – for allowing me to lean into her incredible skill set.
Macie Adkins – for always having a smile on her face
Russell Smoot – for being Garrett Morris and for being Russell Smoot
Chris Mabry – THE PROTECTOR
Chris Leonard – for a long list of reasons
Debbie Odum – Unconditional support
The All-Star Work crew of mine in Northern Virginia
The players and Parents of the Lady 👩 Cavaliers Softball program
Tammy Quesenberry – for allowing me to hold the position of Vice President of the We Love Tammy Club !
Stephen Puckett – for everything you do at both of your Jobs.
Every single person that was brave enough to be Subscribers to our site.
Vickey Ritchie for all of her Late Night 🌙 editing !
Hagen Giles, Bo Goins, Sherry Slaughter, Ted & Brad out at Olde Mill Golf ⛳ Resort…
Kevin DeHaven and Darren Mathews
Paul Nester for allowing us to live in his World 🌎
Lawrence Nesselrodt, Joe Goddard and Kenny Howell at West Virginia Tech University.
The fine folks down at Appalachian State University for letting me participate in their well oiled Sports/ Marketing team.
A.S.P.N on The Hill 