The Five for Sept. 21, 2019

After “The Five” debuted June 29, my staff and I took the rest of the summer off. Now, we’re tanned, rested and ready to go. There have been no shortage of disheartening stories over the past several months, so we’re going to focus on good ones here. Let’s get right to it.

The legendary Amy Liss, who was born three months premature, has severe Cerebral Palsy, and is unable to stand, feed herself or do so many of the things most take for granted, had another epic summer. In true Amy fashion, she inspired others and made lifelong memories in the process.

The highlight was her annual week at the Julie Foudy Sports Leadership Academy. Amy descried it well on her Facebook page. “This is my week of endless joy as I work with some of the best leaders in sports to inspire girls to Choose to Matter! … I was privileged to work with fantastic staff in soccer, lacrosse and basketball. Blessed to share my story with 166 girls from 14 countries as well all learned about sports, leadership and life. Julie Foudy Sports Leadership Academy is where the magic happens!

                                                   Photo courtesy of Amy Liss

Amy also spent a weekend with Tamika Catchings and the WNBA’s Indiana Fever. Again, she was eloquent, writing: “My heart is still full of gratitude. It’s always a good feeling to spend time with someone like Tamika Catchings who loves energy, smiles and hugs (just like me)! The best part of speaking to players before the game was their tradition of a hug line as they come in. We need more hug lines.”

We also need more Amy’s in this world.

2. The same could be said for my friend/colleague Melissa Hayden. Except cloning her is virtually impossible – she is, after all, only the 10^th person in the world to have FKBP 14-related Ehlers-Danlos syndrome, which has meant 12 brain surgeries, three spinal fusions and more.

None of that, however, has culled her innate sense of optimism and zest for life. She recently penned this beautiful post and shared wonderful pictures from throughout her life for the blog at Lurie Children’s Hospital in Chicago. The headline is pure Melissa: “Have Hope Love Big and Be Kind -- One Patient's Life Lessons Learned at Lurie Children's.

3. If my friend/colleague Barry Aldridge wrote a blog, the title would not be Barryproof. The guy is a do it yourself wonder; he even spends some of his free time fixing and restoring arcade games in his basement.

His wife Jacqueline is a 5^th grade teacher at Crystal Lake Elementary. I’ve only met her once but we hit it off right away. I’m already hoping that Liam will have a 5^th grade teacher like her someday. She is dedicated and passionate about her profession and each of the kids in her classroom.

This year, while the school is being remodeled, she is teaching out of a mobile classroom. It was inspiring each day in August to hear from Barry about the early and extra work she put in to make the classroom seem like home to her soon-to-be arriving students. Some of the classrooms charm will come from Barry’s handyman talents.

Here’s to a great year for Jackie and her lucky students.

4. For the second consecutive year, the Brewers are providing their loyal fans with one of the most remarkable seasons in franchise history. Despite losing MVP Christian Yelich to a season-ending injury, the Brewers are stringing victory after victory together. In fact, the Crew have won 13 of their last 15 games and remarkably if the season were to end today would be in the playoffs.

Of course, the season doesn’t end today. The Crew have eight more games to play and are three games out of first place. Everything from a division title, to a Wild Card, to a play-in game, to missing the playoffs entirely is in place. Meaningful baseball in September and October is so much fun.

5. This might not be the last word on curating or not curating but at least it’s an update.

I know I "proudly curated" the debut version of “The Five” along with my “talented team of curatorial consultants.” Given – despite my best efforts – the way the word curator continues to be degraded, abused and inflated pretentiously by people and society at large, I can no longer in good conscious take credit for “curating” this blog, even if my intent was to be lighthearted and semi-amusing.

With that said, I pledge to continue to use this platform – as a bully pulpit if need be -- to help us live in a world where the word curate reverts to its original meaning.

Blogger's Note: This edition of "The Five" Presented by Bobproof was proudly compiled and developed by Bobproof along with a talented and dedicated team of compiling consultants.