First Time for a Second Chance

I'm usually the last to catch on to trends or when videos go viral. I just don't pay much attention to that stuff. But a few days ago, Ted William's story spread like wildfire and I couldn't help but notice. By now, just about everyone knows about the man with the 'Golden Voice'. His story is the stuff rags-to-riches movies are made of. Born and raised in Brooklyn, he has exactly what his cardboard sign said he had. A God-given gift. I watched that video of him in absolute awe. Something about it told me he was on his way to some sort of come-up. I just felt it. The very next day- he was on the front page of the newspaper. Words cannot really describe what I felt when I saw it. It was a combination of my heart swelling coupled with a worry that he'd be thrust into the spotlight, unprepared for all that possibly awaited him. He literally went from panhandler to overnight sensation.


In what seemed like a virtual whirlwind of events, days later Ted Williams was on the lips of the national public and a fast track to a second chance at life. After years of homelessness and drug abuse he is at a turning point. He reunited with his 90 year old mother after more than 20 years. Job offers are pouring in. Williams is finally on the up side of life. I can't really explain the feeling I got when I saw his picture on the front page of the New York Daily News. I didn't know it was possible to be so happy for someone I had never even met. Something about the entire story restored my faith. One could credit technology for all of this. If not for Youtube and similar media outlets- none of us would have ever known about Ted Williams. But I'd like to think that it's deeper than that. I'd like to think that a higher power saw fit to bring him through his ordeals with his voice unscathed, a forgivable rap sheet and his belief intact. Ted Williams represents hope. In an economic climate where it takes less than a series of wrong turns and drug abuse to wind up on the streets- it gives me hope that anyone who can hit that far of a bottom may get a second chance to climb back to the top. God bless him.