Rick Reilly tells us about a special Rose Parade float, and the incredible people it honors:
How can the murder of a referee in Arkansas bring joy in Pasadena?
How can something that moves at the speed of a funeral procession make hearts race?
How can a parade float with a clock going backward make you feel so good about the future?
This is how:
On the night of April 16, 2010, Arkansas State student Michael (Rudy) Gilmore, just home from working his two jobs, one at Walmart and one refereeing intramurals, was shot in the head in his apartment. Who murdered him is still a mystery.
Who'd want to kill Rudy?
"If you needed a dime, Rudy would give you the whole quarter," says his mother, Jerlene.
Rudy's 17-year-old sister, Kaneisha, was poleaxed with grief. Everybody loved Rudy, but none more than she. Rudy had promised to be her escort for homecoming court this football season.
But Rudy wasn't there anymore. He was all over America. He had checked the donor box on his driver's license, so his lungs went here, his kidneys there, and his pancreas somewhere else. His heart stayed close, though. It went to a man named Sammy Robinson, 44, in nearby Hughes, Ark., who'd been waiting for eight months.
"Rudy saved my life," Sammy says. "I told his mom, 'I know you lost a son. But I want you to know you've gained another.'"
Read the whole thing.
