News to be thankful for

I sat down to read my Daily Herald, then my daughter called. When I told her what I was doing she asked if there was any good news.

Fortunately we spoke on Tuesday, Octo. 30. I told her of the Holocaust survivor who declined to cancel her talk in Pittsburgh, the day after the deadly synagogue shooting there. Throughout her life Magda Brown has told her story, turning a calamity into positive life lessons. That day she did the same - on two levels.

I told my daughter of Burt Constable's wonderful article, "It really wasn't OK when you were a kid." He pointed out that, yes, there are such offensive things being said and done that were felt to be acceptable a generation ago. He correctly calls that evolution.

I even told her of the previous week's extraordinary story about an extraordinary teenager. When he learned he would be blind in three to five months, he cried, he prayed, he rode his bike. Then he vowed to see all the wonderful sights he could in that precious time. Through his story he taught us all to cherish that remarkable capacity we have.

At Thanksgiving, I give thanks for three remarkable stories, each "front page news." I'm thankful for people who take the terrible and somehow teach us something wonderful from it. And I am grateful to a God who help us find light in the darkness.

Bruce Bedingfield

Hoffman Estates