When pennies were still minted…
Today being some Holiday, where many kiss thee
Blarney stone, what better way to celebrate, Eh?
This is about a lengthy, but great story I
listened to via my NFB Newsline for The Blind telephone’s service’s ESPN Online
Motorsports Headlines news section. With the “byline” saying written by Sam
Borden, senior ESPN writer.
The story revolves around Wessa Miller, who
suffers from Spinal Bifida, and fantastically has beaten the odds. By now being
34 years old, and still living!
You can already guess who Wessa’s favourite
driver was. And at age six, She and a handful of other Make-A-Wish recipient’s
were in a room waiting to meet the Intimidator, aka ‘Ol Ironhead, ergo Dale
Earnhardt Sr. at Daytona International Speedway.
The year was 1998 and the “Man in Black” was
having another awful year at Daytona. The one race He truly desired to win, frantically
dealing with engine woes the day before the race!
Since in 20 years of trying, many nightmares
had occurred. Including cutting a tyre on the last lap in 1990 and hitting a
Seagull the following year!
As Earnhardt bent down to greet Wessa, the last
child in the room. She handed Him a penny She was clutching in Her hand, with
Dale saying what’s this? With the six year old girl saying it’s a lucky penny
for you…
As I just love the image of Dale racing back to
the shop, demanding some glue. Smearing glue all over Himself as the penny
wouldn’t stick. Before ultimately being glued to the dashboard of His Richard
Childress Racing No. 3 GM goodwrench/Bass Pro shops Chevrolet Monte Carlo SS.
Yep, some of you will already know that’s the
year Earnhardt finally won his coveted Daytona 500…
As I highly recommend reading the article, as
it’s a wonderful story! And I enjoyed reading about the Intimidator’s charity
towards the Miller’s, behind the scenes. Along with everyone else’s generosity
over the years…