Across Indiana

On this trip across Indiana memories of a lost a lot of buys. Stories of Pioneer saintliness. The Christian story never gets old. And of modern concerns. We have made our peace with mediocrity and will visit us shining example of Hoosiers helping who's has a way of honoring young lives who taught everyone they know. The true meaning of life. And that's what I learned from him to pay it forward to help others. This trip across Indiana is made possible by the annual financial support from viewers like you. And by the following corporate sponsors. Music in Indianapolis. See it. Hear it. Feel it. It's very uncertain All right Donald. Come to our house. And must. Tell. Him.

My. Crown Hill cemetery is full of names. Some of them attached to lives lived in heroic service to their fellow man. Others well not so much. From the grave side of James Whitcomb Riley here at the highest point in Indianapolis. They stretch forth like a sea of just stuff. And yet just the shadows thrown north. There is another smaller hill where once there were no names. Community Hill the indigents burial ground were unmarked graves provided no testament to lives lived with a little dignity and even less hope. It is here that our story in painted forward begins. He was called the Children's poet a gentle who wrote with such sentimentality that an entire nation embraced him for his ability to

look at life with the same wonder and delight that is the birthright of every child. It is with no small irony that within the shadow of the graceful columns that mark his grave there was once a potter's field. A final resting place for nearly 700 children whose lives were often cruel and short who were embraced by no one. And who words failed as their graves were left nameless. Children like Harry Lockwood. He was an illegitimate boy. The mother was arrested for prostitution. He was in exceedingly filthy conditions and vermin were found in his eyelashes. The songs of children carried on a June breeze is symbolic of the change in community Hill one that has taken place more than a century after the

first of the city's unwanted children had been laid to rest here. They came from the city's three public orphanages from an era when as many as 40 percent of those admitted never lived to see adoption. When Indiana's lost children had no names. Child is illegitimate. It was unwelcome. So the doctors asked the board to take kids as he feared they would kill him. When they refer to these children as it it just amazes me. Not the child not by their name it now alongside the faces of two children at play. These orphans have had their names restored to them and under three granite columns peak like a home these names become lives some of which still haunt. There's one in love with Harris. She was and the illegitimate child of Laura Harris. She lives at Brightwood and does not wish her family who are reputable to know of her disgrace. It has been

shamefully neglected. It was taken to the home June 18th 1900. A petition was filed and she was awarded to the board. June 19. That's a pretty amazing story. I want to sweep it under the rug. A lot has changed for Indiana's orphans since then. And for most of the 11000 an often at risk children in state custody. The system has allowed them places of safety shelter and care while they look to move on to more permanent homes. Yet even for the most successful past orphans the sting of being abandoned is never forgotten. The dedication of the heart remembers the Morial backdrop for some painful memories. Everybody would have a hopeful look on their face as a potential parents walked past. And then after they left. And you weren't one of those that was selected for adoption there was a great deal

of despair. Paul Coleman. Paul's father abandoned his mother before he was born. His mother abandoned him at two weeks old. He was suffering from sore eyes. He was sent to Ellinor hospital for treatment. The superintendent of Elenor hospital telephoned that he had died suddenly. The doctor held a post-mortem examination and found that death had resulted from acute pulmonary congestion. This child is 2 months old. James Whitcomb Riley once wrote of a child don't cry. They have broken your heart in the rainbow gleams of your dreams are things of long ago but Heaven homes all to which you saw I don't cry for these orphans cherishing their memory is the best we can do. But the sad fact remains that the state has one of the worst child abuse and

neglect rates in the country. In that sense the hearts remembered memorial marks not the end but the beginning of protecting Indiana's most vulnerable citizens. And some of the moneys used to build it are now being used to carry that spirit forward through a fund created to allow today's discarded children greater access to support services. Using the past to reach today's at risk youth. Children who still live without the poetry of a loving family. It's every parent's worst fear a labyrinth full of overwhelming obstacles. Who in the world do you call for help. Well you might be surprised to answers. But then they've been there before. I'd like you to meet Hannah and I'd like to tell you about the first time she came home from the

hospital. Bringing her home as a newborn was a little different for her mom Jenny than it was for yours or mine. She already had a burial site picked out and a headstone for Hannah was given 60 days to live. That was six years ago saying that Hannah's beating the odds would be more than an understatement. Paula McDonald knows Jenny's story all too well. You know that there's no cure. No treatment. So you start looking to try to find what can you do. To enable your child. To live the same life that every other child. To have a. Child. And to get their. Wonderful. Their ups and downs. When Paula's son Ryan was diagnosed at age 1 she was told it would be a miracle if he lived to see another birthday.

Why and drive to see twenty two more. Days. A trip to England and the finest party house at Ball State you ever saw. Although that is one landmark Paula could have done without along the way he became one of my closest friends. I knew Paul then too. She was as formidable as a mother bear when it came to her boy. Well you know there's a story that there's pictures of me all over Indianapolis but they exist in my face like the poison. Fine don't talk to this woman because. And yeah I always tried everything that I could and I do that now for our families here at the foundation when they have a need. That's the Muscular Dystrophy Family Foundation. Brian is no longer with us. He once told me he knew he would be. But he hoped his struggle would make it easier for those who follow him. If Paula has anything to say about her work with them the FFA will carry on her son's Hope and his name in memory will be with us as long as we have right. What many of us don't realize is that in an era of sought after cures the day to day

needs of children with terminal illnesses often get overlooked needs of the system designed to help. Often turns its back on. Its very expensive to have a family member with a chronic terminal illness. And you're not going to be going on the vacations that your neighbor is going on that aren't the same money as you do because you're using your money to buy vans and Vangelis and shower chairs and toilet chairs. And be told your family member that a toilet cherish our chair is a luxury. I think it's horrendous. Come with me now to another house. Ellie it's been diagnosed with muscular dystrophy and his mother and soon he will need a wheelchair and much more. Now the doors are one of the bathrooms I can't get in the house because the ramps gotta go and the car won't work because it's. Stuff. All the way around. Through the foundation Paula's gotten a lift put in to take Elliot to his bedroom where Randy Tatum is widening the door for free.

I ask Randy why and he said just to help Elliot and to help me Randy's daughter Kelsey was only 14 when a rare form of brain tumor was discovered. She was given six months. She lived for seven more years. She went through 36 different treatments experimental drugs and a high school graduation from a hospital bed. Before Randy faced the experience that only parents who have been there truly know. I didn't know how it was going to feel. It's just devastating. Losses unbelievable. And I don't know how long it'll be before. I feel somewhat better. That's part of the reason I'm here. Christmas has a new meaning for both Randy and Paula both of their children's birthdays for at this time of year. But perhaps the true spirit of the season lives on in the work they do. Helping others face what many of us maybe would not be able to face. The weight that's on you in the battle that you fight. To keep. Yourself up

as well as your. Your child has. An incredible battle. The problem is there's no there's no pill for heartache. That's me performing in community theater. I always dedicate my performances to Ryan. That's my way of carrying his name on that. And of course to do this story and Paula and Jenny Jenny now volunteers at M.D. F-F and both of them continue creating miracles for Hannah. And it seems that someone else is watching over her. After all her middle name is prayer. And there's Randy. Kelsey once told him that in spite of her illness she wouldn't change a thing. It's taught me what love means she said. As she visited other sick children while she herself was dying. That's incredible bravery and the legacy of the heart that Randy and Paula continue in their children's names by paying it forward and being able to do this really it helps me more. Than you do. You know it's something for somebody else. Over seven years.

I mean the generosity of people. What they gave to my daughter when to give to my family. Was incredible. You know what would be right. About. Having her pass and we turned my back on. Pay forward what I did and others did for Ryan. To help him be what he was and he truly was all that he could be. And he did everything he wanted to do. And I think for any of us is that not the final thing in life. When the end is coming. To be able to say I did what I wanted to do in my life and that's what I learned from him to pay it forward to help others. Who are having bad days. To figure out where to head and what to do to make their day better. You won't believe it. The man told his wife long distance from the convention. I'm

sitting next to a guy who had a mirror. Phil McCord gets that reaction a lot these days whenever he talks about how complications from cataract surgery destroyed the vision in one eye about how he silently asked the soul of Mother Theodore Gary if you have any influence with God. I would appreciate it if you would exercise it on my behalf. About how the next day his I was. Mother Garrett is now the first person from Indiana to be named as a saint by the Catholic Church. She represents the qualities of humility charity encourage that we're proud to call. Who's your values. So why is it pastor and author Philip Gulley asked. That a state so rich in human capital gets let down so often by its lackluster institutions. These are the subjects of this trans history matters. In point time. 15th of this year your intercession with God

was nothing short of miraculous. It was on these grounds that she and her fellow arrived in the cold of eight hundred forty six women unable to speak English and surrounded by the foreign wilderness of Saint Mary of the woods Ind.. What was our mission meant to find ourselves in the midst of the forest. No village not even a house in sight. It is astonishing that this remote solitude has been chosen for him. And especially for an academy. All appearances are against it. And they were told that's where you're going to stay until your house is ready. There were four American girls waiting to join them. The six French sisters didn't know any English and the four American girls didn't want a friend but the ten of them slept on the floor of the attic for the first two months. That's one of the most

favorite parts of the story because it tells the conditions under which they arrived here and there. Sent to school he didn't even have a place to move yet far from the comforts of her home country of France. Mother Karen could rely only on Providence to grow the fledgling Academy. Her vow to devote herself to the instruction of young girls and to the care of the unfortunate to educate Protestants and Catholics those who were able to pay and those who could not. Whenever anyone expressed an interest in knowing more about the Catholic faith they were willing to tell them that they did not force that upon the young people in here so their hopes were to help people develop as human beings as effective well-balanced persons. A pioneer in education Mother Guerin St. Mary of the woods Academy had a sophisticated curriculum. Never before offered in the area she proceeded the public school system and opened

both boarding schools as well as orphanages and communities around the state. These included Fort Wayne Madison Columbus and Evansville. By the 15th anniversary of her arrival in Indiana the 12 schools were educating 12 hundred children. Mother Theodore loved children her most wonderful piece of advice that I remember to the teachers that she trained was love the children first then teach them. So she had her priorities straight. She knew that just giving factual information to children was not truly education. By loving children you draw out what is best in them. Have you sometimes thought that you are called to do on Earth what our Lord himself instructed and you instruct. He was surrounded by little children. You spend your lives among them. Mother Theodore Guerin presided over the Sisters of Providence until her death her earthly remains are

still here at St. Mary of the woods but it's the way she lived that truly resonates with people all around the world. Her life's work was officially recognized when she was named the saint from the United States and the first from Indiana Saint Mother theater as we call her now has a story for all time. It is the lived experience of one who followed and modeled her life on the life of Jesus. A life of total commitment to other people. The Christian story never gets old. Someone who lives a life according to the teachings of Jesus is a person for all time. Not too many years ago I found myself near Pike's Peak and decided to drive to the top when I was younger. I had read the biography of Zabulon pike for whom it was named. And his story had engaged my imagination.

Zabulon Pike never set foot on Pikes Peak. He climbed Mt. Rosa next to it in the dead of winter wearing summer clothes and nearly froze to death. Pike spent his formative years in the Midwest which explained his ineptitude when confronted with geographical diversity States then on geographical splendor should go out of their way to excel in other areas but too many of us who Zhorzh take pride in our backwardness. We don't call it backwardness of course we call it tradition. And the way we've always done things in good old Hoosier common sense that the effect is the same. We rank at the bottom of nearly every national survey. More high school dropouts more hungry children. More underemployed and unemployed. More pollution. More everything you hope never happens to your children. We used to tell jokes about Kentucky and. Now the joke's on us. My fellow

Hoosiers would give you the shirts from their backs. If you were traveling across our nation in your car broke down. Pray it would happen in Indiana we would get it fixed up and on your way and wouldn't dream of cheating here. But it just stayed here. All bets are off. Cars we can fix. Were not so accomplished were children. Keep driving until you reach West concent or Minnesota where there are Nordic customs are still strong. Propelling them to the top of the nation's charts. Despite our high points. I have virtues to easily descend into vices. I do not say this lightly. But I say it seriously. And with deep affection for my home state. Seldom have a person so rich in generosity and spirit. Form such a mediocre Union. Our political leaders clergy. Newspaper Publishers are the

very ones who should lead us to higher ground. Appeal to the worst in us to gain and secure their power. If Indiana has a low point. It is this. We have made our peace with mediocrity. We are like Jed. Dressed for summer. But heading into winter. Attaching our name to heights we've never scaled and likely won't. So long as we confuse custom for wisdom and narrow mindedness for straying. You're about to meet some folks who've had a life a little tougher than it should have been but they'll tell you it's all turned out OK. For if the road had been any less rocky They might not have the rich friendships they do now. That's because a fire on the hearth. Country Style cookin and laughter make a home no matter where you hang your

hat. That of course. Andy. For years James has been looking for his home. No one's really sure what part of Indianapolis he came from although he remembers things about a place or two. His parents have passed on. He has no brothers or sisters. He can claim he's led a life time without a permanent home. But not without a family to call his own because his family is here. It's one he shares with Brenda a caring woman and friend to the feline Bama so named because although he's never been there he likes everything. Alabama Louis a member of the church choir who has also led a harder life than you or I might understand. And Caroline who helps them with day to day things including having fun.

My friends at Jay Randolph. Just. Enjoy life. Carolyn takes them in every Christmas for a celebration of family. Well all of Karen's friends are emancipated adults. They make their own decisions but often don't get the same opportunities as everyone else. The most important part of our celebration as we all just have. Been through. This time of the heartaches might seem a little easy. But we have our traditions. Besides the dance on their present I'm open. Jeff Jim always cooks too much to eat. And we mustn't fail to mention the changes you're tired rendition of that holiday classic. Blueberry Hill. Miles really. Low to eat. It makes my Christmas complete to have my friends here Christmas time. I

get more out of it than they do it just makes them feel good. Finally this trip hundreds of Hoosier soldiers won't be back home again in Indiana for Christmas. But thanks to the caring hearts of fellow Hoosiers. Home is just a little closer than you might think. On a frigid day in November volunteers along with the Christmas Spirit Foundation and FedEx employees all gathered in torn town Indiana. The destination dulls tree farm. The reason to send a little piece of Indiana to the men and women of the military both stateside and abroad in the tradition of this time of the year 200 Indiana Christmas trees will brighten the season for soldiers. And those involved are hoping to bring the feeling of being home to the home

front. And that the distance from loved ones may not seem so far after all. You know what greater way. To show your appreciation than your support to the troops who are who are you know laying their life on the line every day rather than to to give them a Christmas tree and help them to celebrate Christ's birth that that way. When there's truth across Indiana it was made possible by the idea of financial support strong like you and by the following corporate sponsored. Indian IT see it hear it experience it all.

Yall next trip across Indiana. Memories of a lost a lot loved by us. Stories of Pioneer saintliness. The Christian story never gets old. And of modern concerns we have made our peace with mediocrity and will visit a shining example of Hoosiers helping who's. Has a way of honoring young lives who taught everyone they knew. The true meaning of life.