In the sports world, there are many charitable superstars and many others for whom philanthropy is a masquerade, an exercise in image-buffing. Then there is [Bobby] Orr, who has created a model for giving back that embraces the power of true connection, of responding when the need is greatest.
When social studies teacher Christa McAuliffe died aboard the space shuttle Challenger in 1986, Orr learned that members of her family were Bruins fans and he quietly traveled to Concord, N.H., to visit.
When former Bruin Ace Bailey died aboard a hijacked airliner that struck the World Trade Center in New York during the 2001 terrorist attacks, Orr turned up the next morning at the door of Bailey’s widow, Katherine.
“Bobby will always have a place in my heart,’’ she said.
When Orr learned last year that James Gordon, a hockey player at Hingham High School, was fighting testicular cancer, he called Gordon’s mother, Terry, and asked to visit.
Orr chatted for several hours with James, his family, and friends, spending much of the time holding Terry’s daughter, Jenna, who has Down syndrome.
Orr posed for pictures with everyone in the house. He later mailed them autographed photos with personal messages, having remembered the name of each family member and friend as if he had known them for years.
In the midst of a very jaded and cynical age, this is a must read story about a man who, in this cynical celebrity age, hides his candle under a basket.
Terry Gordon, still in awe months later, said, “Who does that?’’
Via A Large Regular. You should read him every day.
3 comments:
They say true charity is anonymous and Bobby Orr exemplifies that.
Well done Mr. Orr!
Well done indeed!
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