Cody Ganoe is ten years old and has battled leukemia for a while. This form of cancer, thank God, is in remission. His bravery in dealing with this has been nothing short of sensational. Most adults could not have dealt with this situation like this young man.
I first heard about Cody from Shawn Drouin who runs one of the country’s best teen programs called “Tasco: in St. Petersburg, Florida. He contacted Nick Singh who works for “Experience for Causes,” a program that helps kids’ dreams come true. He contacted me and explained the situation. At that moment I contacted my friends at the Yankees and they made sure that Cody and his family had a very nice day at Tropicana Field.
Cody told me that he is a Rays fan but really likes the Yanks too and will never forget his great day at the Trop watching the two best teams in the American League. I told him that that was a very smart political answer and that someday he might be President.
The reason that Cody has a special place in his heart for the Yankees is, when he was in the hospital, he shared a room with another leukemia patient that was the same age as him. Unfortunately, his friend from the hospital passed away but Cody would never forget how much his buddy loved the Yankees and how that made the situation easier.
I have to give a special thank you to Dave McCarthy, curator of the Ted Williams Hall of Fame for his kindness and generosity to Cody and his family. Dave even gave Cody a signed bat and ball. Special thanks to Yankees traveling secretary Ben Tuliebitz for his help with Cody’s family and Eddie Fastook, the head of team security, for not forgetting the family. The family was very touched by the fact that even though the Yanks didn’t hit, he still remembered them. These little acts of kindness go such a long way when people are going through such hard times.
A very, very special thank you to Nick Singh who truly understands the importance of helping the less privileged and sick. Life is too short as we all know and to be able to help people one way or another is the least we can do.
I once visited a hospital that concentrated on kids with different diseases. There was a little boy named Thomas. He loved baseball so naturally he loved my children’s books because they all deal with base-ball themes. I already knew that poor little Thomas was not long for this world but even though he sort of knew his situation, he fought like a champion.
One day I was reading one of my books and then I had a question and answer session with the kids. Thomas asked me that if he did one good thing a day would he go to Heaven. I thought that question was very profound coming from this young man. It brought tears to my eyes. Thomas lived for about two more years but always tried to do a good thing every day. I would have to bet that he is in Heaven. Wouldn’t it be an incredible world if we all lived life like Thomas did.
To be able to really say “what a wonderful world!”
Special thanks to the Yanks and Rays for just being good people.