This brief video is a wonderful tribute to the young men and women of Middlebury College (Vermont) who have adopted Butch, a man with cerebral palsy.
If you ever wonder if anyone would care, watch this video. It’s A Wonderful Life.
For 50 years, generations of young people have been picking up Richard “Butch” Varno to bring him to the home basketball and football games. Football players pick Butch up before basketball games and vice versa. It began in 1960 when Butch’s grandmother was struggling to get her 13-year-old grandson’s wheelchair through the snow. She didn’t struggle for long when the college stepped in to help and the rest is a half-century of history.
You don’t need to love sports to be moved by this video.
In 13 minutes you will be deeply touched by the caring and passion of generations of youth who for 50 years who have helped someone to enjoy the special moments in life while imparting powerful life lessons that bring the best out in others.
Picking Up Butch will take only 9 minutes of your busy life, but stay with you a long-long time. ENJOY and be touched as I was.
Brenda Avadian, MA
TheCaregiversVoice.com
Thank you to PersonCare.net,”Home of Helpful products for Caregivers and Loved Ones” for bringing this to the attention of The Caregiver’s Voice. [TCV Update 7/2/2018: PersonCare.net website no longer operational.]
Wow, what a great story. When I first saw that the video was 13 minutes long, I didn’t want to take the time to watch it — but I’m so glad I did! Butch’s story is a great example of true community, which is what happens when all people are allowed to contribute their unique strengths in order to improve life for everyone.
I felt the same way…didn’t have the time to watch it, but something kept telling me to take the time. I’m glad I did. And I’m glad you, Melanie, and Jenny took time to write.
How very inspiring … and cute! Bringing over the lady friends for him to meet! 🙂 Thank you for sharing this. I shared it on Facebook as well.