Five and Tom

Rather than succumb to the mind-numbing suffering, pain, lies, and deceit rampant in our world today, I searched for a story to share. Something memorable, touching, and perhaps heart-wrenching. These stories are not to bring you down, but rather, to highlight acts of kindness that are all too often overlooked in today’s world.

I came across two recently. One is as touching as the other. One features an ordinary guy, a hero. He wasn’t seeking to be a hero. He wasn’t seeking the spotlight. No, he was being thoughtful and kind.

Meet Five. Five is a waiter at 42nd Street Oyster Bar in Raleigh, NC. He works two jobs and is getting ready to start classes again in January. He's a humble guy, who doesn't really like attention. His act of kindness generated it.

Lee Bondurant has cerebral palsy. He and Five met about a month ago when Lee was in the restaurant with his mother, Linda. Like many waiters and waitresses, Five was busy. As he worked, he noticed Lee's mom feeding Lee his meal. As I said, Lee has cerebral palsy. Five wanted to make sure all his customers enjoyed their meals.

As he explained, "Seafood is best eaten hot, so I didn't want her food to get cold. I didn't want his food to get cold," recalled Five, "I just wanted to help a fellow man out."

Five asked other waiters and waitresses to cover his table, and he took over feeding Lee his food. Lee's mom, Linda, took a picture of Five feeding her son.

As sometimes happens, the picture went viral. Five doesn’t have a Facebook page, and his manager had to tell him what had happened. Five even had to ask what “likes” and “shares” were. He received messages and letters from across the country, and some from other countries. Some letters contained money, so Five started a cerebral palsy foundation in Lee’s name.

You can see the picture Lee’s mom took, along with a short video clip of the story at: https://abc11.com/diner-kindness-server-serving-others/1427807/ 

Ten-year-old Noah Reeb had severe migraines. Scans were done, and they showed a tumor growing in Noah’s brain. Worse, the tumor was malignant.

Noah loves football. So much so, he plays for two different teams. His favorite player? Tom Brady.

When the diagnosis was given to Noah’s mom, she called her husband to give him the news. Noah asked two things: Was he going to die? Would he get to play in the NFL? 

During a visit and procedure, Noah’s father asked Noah if he wanted anything. A snack? A nap? A movie? Noah asked to watch Tom Brady highlights. So they watched them together.

Todd Heap is Noah’s cousin. He played for the Ravens, and his wife contacted Tom Brady with Noah’s story. Tom sent a video of encouragement to Noah that he replays over and over. Noah’s father and mother said that if Noah beat cancer, they would take him to the first game they could get tickets for to watch Tom Brady play.

One day, after many surgeries, chemo, and radiation, Noah rang the bell indicating he had beaten cancer, and his family followed through on Noah’s pact. He held a sign the entire game, telling everyone he had beaten cancer. One of Brady’s teammates noticed the sign, walked over, and congratulated Noah, and then told Brady. Brady came over with a hat, signed it, and placed it on Noah’s head, and shook his hand, congratulating him. 

A memory, a small gesture. A small gift of time that Noah will remember as long as he lives. You can see the story and the clip at: https://www.fox13now.com/news/positively-utah/tom-brady-responds-to-utah-boy-who-beat-brain-cancer-waved-sign-at-bucs-game

Five, a worker getting ready to take classes. Tom Brady, a famous football player. Two individuals as different as can be, but sharing something important. Compassion, kindness, and caring. Something that can make life better for someone else. Something to think about . . .

Live Your Life, and Make A Difference! 

To My Readers:

I am pleased to announce that my book, Stolen Lives, Book One of the Lives Trilogy, has been named a Crime Thriller finalist in the 2021 Best Thriller Book Awards! That is the second award Stolen Lives has won. Previously, it received a Literary Titan Gold Book Award. I’m happy, as well as humbled, that there has been success with Stolen Lives.

Connect with me on Social Media: 
Author Website: www.jrlewisauthor.blog/
Twitter at @jrlewisauthor
Facebook at: www.facebook.com/Joseph.Lewis.Author  
Amazon at: www.amazon.com/Joseph-Lewis/e/B01FWB9AOI /

Blaze In, Blaze Out, is now available for preorder. Use the promo code: PREORDER2021 and order it at the publisher’s website at: https://www.blackrosewriting.com/mystery/blazeinblazeout

Eiselmann and O’Connor thought the conviction of Dmitry Andruko meant the end. They forgot that revenge knows no boundaries, vindictiveness knows no restraints, and ruthlessness never worries about collateral damage. A target is a target, and in the end, the target will die.

Betrayed: A PenCraft 1^st Place Winner for Thriller-Fiction! A Maxy Award Runner-Up for Mystery/Suspense! A Literary Titan Silver Book Award Winner! A Reader’s Ready Recommended Read Award Winner! A Reader’s Favorite Honorable Mention Award Winner for Fiction-Crime-Mystery!

Betrayed is Now Available in Audio Book, Kindle and Paperback! https://amzn.to/3AfUUpS

A late-night phone call, a missing kid, a murdered family, but no one is talking. A promise is made and kept, but it could mean the death of a fifteen-year-old boy. Seeing is not believing. No one can be trusted, and the hunters become the hunted. https://amzn.to/2EKHudx

Spiral Into Darkness: Named a Recommended Read in the Author Shout Reader Awards!
He blends in. He is successful, intelligent, and methodical. He has a list and has murdered eight on it so far. There is no discernible pattern. There are no clues. There are no leads. The only thing the FBI and local police have to go on is the method of death: two bullets to the face- gruesome and meant to send a message. But it’s difficult to understand any message coming from a dark and damaged mind. Two adopted boys, struggling in their own world, do not know they are the next targets. Neither does their family. And neither does local law enforcement. https://amzn.to/2RBWvTm

Caught in a Web: A PenCraft Literary Award Winner! Named “One of the Best Thrillers of 2018!” by BestThrillers.com 

Caught in a Web is also Available in Audio Book, Kindle and Paperback! http://bit.ly/2WO3kka

They found the bodies of high school and middle school kids dead from an overdose of heroin and fentanyl. MS-13, a violent gang originating from El Salvador, controls the drug trade along the I-94 and I-43 corridors. They send Ricardo Fuentes to find out who is cutting in on their business, shut it down and teach them a lesson. But he has an ulterior motive: find and kill a fifteen-year-old boy, George Tokay, who had killed his cousin the previous summer. Detectives Jamie Graff, Pat O’Connor and Paul Eiselmann race to find the source of the drugs, shut down the ring, and find Fuentes before he kills anyone else, especially George or members of his family. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07CKF7696  
 
The Lives Trilogy Prequel, Taking Lives:
FBI Agent Pete Kelliher and his partner search for the clues behind the bodies of six boys left in various and remote parts of the country. Even though they live in separate parts of the country, the lives of Kelliher, 11-year-old Brett McGovern, and 11-year-old George Tokay are separate pieces of a puzzle. The two boys become interwoven with the same thread Kelliher holds in his hand. The three of them are on a collision course and when that happens, their futures grow dark as each search for a way out. https://amzn.to/34nXBH5
 
Book One, Stolen Lives: Editor’s Pick by BestThrillers! Literary Titan Gold Book Award Winner!
Two thirteen-year-old boys are abducted off a safe suburban street. Kelliher and his team of FBI agents have 24 hours to find them or they will end up like the other kids they found- dead! They have no leads, no clues, and nothing to go on. To make the investigation that much tougher, Kelliher suspects that one of his team members might be involved. https://amzn.to/3oMo4qZ  
 
Book Two of the Lives Trilogy, Shattered Lives:
The boys are home, but now they have to fit back in with their families and friends. Their parents and the FBI thought the boys were safe. They were until people began dying. Now the hunt is on for six dangerous and desperate men who vow revenge. With no leads and nothing to go on, the FBI can only sit back and wait. A dangerous game that threatens not only the boys, but their families. https://amzn.to/2RAYIk2 
 
Book Three of the Lives Trilogy, Splintered Lives:
Three dangerous men with nothing to lose offer a handsome reward to anyone willing to kill fourteen-year-old Brett McGovern. He does not know that he, his younger brother, and a friend are targets. More than anyone, these three men vow to kill George, whom they blame for forcing them to run and hide. A fun vacation turns into a nightmare and ends where it started, back on the Navajo Nation Reservation, high on a mesa held sacred by George and his grandfather. Outnumbered and outgunned, George will make the ultimate sacrifice to protect his adoptive father and his adoptive brothers- but can he? Without knowing who these men are? Or where they are? Without knowing whom to trust? Is he prepared for betrayal that leads to his heartbreak and possible death? http://bit.ly/SplinteredLives  

Photo courtesy of Alex Menendez/AP.