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del toro: stay up to date on america reframed at worldchannel.org. subscribe to world channel's youtube to go beyond the lens with our filmmakers. tell us what you think using #americareframed. ♪

♪ it was december 21, four days before christmas. i was 15 years old, and living through difficult times. maybe every 15-year-old thinks they're living through difficult times. but i was so sure that i named it. i branded it. i was living through my "slump." (laughter) up to that point, i got pretty good grades but at 15, letters were being sent home from teachers to my parents

i was on the high school basketballeam... technically. i spent so much time on the bench those days, i didn't bother learning the plays. i didn't even have a date to the annual christmas dance. and i felt low every day. except that day. i woke up on december 21 with a renewedeterminaon. my slump ends today. why? i have no idea. (laughter) it was the last day of school before christmas break, i'm sure i was excited about that. i don't know what it was, but i got dressed, went downstairs for a delicious bowl of fruity pebbles, and off i went to live the rst day of the rest of my life. a couple of hours later, i'm in the vice principal's office. i'm not sure why i've been called there. i'm replaying the past couple of weeks of my life. did i insu a teacher? did i get into it with another student?

and then i remember: my slump is over. this is going to be good news. like, maybe i won an award or something. there cod be a cash prize. like, i'm getting excited. (laughter) after a few minutes, the door to the office opens, and in comes sister catherine. she is the vice principal of my small catholic high school. and with her is father paul. father paul is the pastor of my family church. and my family church has no connection to my high school. there's no reason for father paul to be here. one of the more serious reasons that i was feeling low every day was that my mom had just had delicate surgery to relieve a chronic pain condition in her face. the rgeons had to go in through the back of her head, and past her brain, to address the issue.

it was precarious and scary surgery. and she was home now, and recovering, but her recovery was also delicate and precarious and scary for me. so when father paul came into that room, i no longer thought i won a cash prize. so sister catherine comes over to my left, and father paul kneels to my right, and he looks at me and he says, "joe, your mom and your dad are okay. but your house is on fire." and i'm like, "oh my gosh,s it?" and sister catherine says, "joe, u've gone pale, do you want a glass of water? what do you want, what do you need, what do you want?" i said, "i want to go home. can i go home?" so father paul drove me home. when we arrived, i remember seeing the news crews and the fire trucks and the neighbors who had gathered. and the house was still anding, so i thought, you know, may. and then i went inside, and it was so bad.

the dining room, where we were supposed to have christmas dinner in a couple of days, well, that was destroyed. the front room, where the decorated christmas tree had been standing, and the wrapped presents had been set, well, the fire started in there, so you can imagine what it looked like. the kitchen, where i'd just had that brightly colored bowl of fruity pebbles, w looked like someone had taken a black marker and scraped it all over the place. my mom was at the next-door neighbor's, she was fine. a little shaken up, of course. i asked father paul if the church was unlocked, he said it was. i walked the block up the street to my family church. inside, it was dark, the lights were out. and i walked to the altar. this was not going to be a pew conversation, this had to go right to the altar. i didn't shake my fist at god, i didn't scream or yell. i cried. and said, "i woke up knowing

"thiwas the end of my slump, "and you burned my house down? "like, what's the messe you're trying to send me here? "'don't get your hopes up, kid'? "'things aren't going to get any better'? 'it's not your slump, it's your life.'" now i feel the lowest i have felt the whole time, but that's because i didn't know. back at school, sister catherine made an announcement over the intercom, letting everyone know about the fire. and spontaneously, every class and club and organization took up donations, for me. i didn't know the lead story on the news that night would be about the charnitski fund. see, my grade school and the town bank joined fors to give folks a place to help, to donate, for my family. my grade school principal was on tv talking about what a great kid i am,

and what a great family i have. offering food and money and toiletries and gifts and decorated trees, and anything they thought we might need to have some kind of christmas. now, look, maybe you're nothat impressed. maybe u think this is exactly what would happen in a small town a few days before christmas when tragedy strikes. but i had just been crying in a dark church, thinking my life was never going get any better. this outpouring of love and support, to m was a big deal. it was a win. december 21 was the final day of my slump. thanks. (cheers and applause)

♪ i was born in 1928. many, many, many... (applause) things have changed... (applause) ...have changed since then. one thing never changes. god gives us all a purpose. and my daughter had a purpose. so i want to tell you about my daughter, patty. she was born when i was 19. and when she was eight months old, she had spinal meningitis. it was a dreadful disease and still is. and her fever rose so high, it damaged her brain. people then that had brain damage was labeled "retarded." it was a hard time for them.

they were rejected and sent to institutions and hidden away at home. i was determined that my daughter patty would never go to an institution. well, when she was eight or nine years old, we moved into a good neighborhood. professional people, good people. and i thought they would be understanding. so we been there about two or three weeks, and everything was beautiful, and we were happy. and then i had a visitor, a judge, and i was pleasantly pleased until he started talking. and he said, "well, "your neighbors came to see me "and they told me you had a retarded child living here. "and i've come to tell you

"that i'm going to send her to an institution or you'll build a fence around your yard." then i was shocked. and i said, "i'm here to tell you "that she will never go to an institution, "and no one... (applause) "...no one will ever put her there, but i will build a fence around my yard." so i had a fence built. and i built a sandbox, and we had a table back there where we had tea parties, and we also had a pet dog. he was gentle and sweet, so she was happy. and we had tea parties, and one day, she come running in the house, and she got a tray, a cup of coffee; it was cold. and a napkin, a spoon, sugar, and cream, and i thought, "another tea party."

but it wasn't. she ran to a fence where a neighbor was hanging out clothes, and she stood there with the tray until the neighbor came and got the tray. about 30 or 40 minutes later, i heard a knock on my door and i opened it. it was a neighbor with the tray, and tears were streaming down her face. and she said, "your daughter has "shined a light into our neighborhood. open the gate." so patty's love-- because she had heard the judge say, you know, she had to be put in a fence or in an institution. and yet she had this unconditional love, and she wanted to show that unconditional love. and this was the time when programs should be started,

because president kennedy just came into office. well, kennedy had a sister that was mentally challenged, and humphrey, the vice president, had a grandson, so they were both very interested in programs. well, they had to have groundwork done by volunteers. i was one of them, but finding the people, the children that had been hidden away, wasn't easy. but i had doctors that were friends. they told me. and i had milk carriers that were friends, and they told me. well, i found ten. the parents were reluctant, but this is where patty come in. she visited with me and her smiles and her love, and they wanted their children to have some of that.

so we needed a place. well, one the churches gave us their big fellowship room, and that was good. and we needed transportation. and one of the automobile dealers, he gave us a brand new truck, so we had a volunteer bus driver. we needed a volunteer teacher. it was me. (laughter) so, it was beautiful to see the children that hadn't had chances to learn. we got typewriters donated to us. i guess you all know what they are. (laughter) and so, anyway, one of them wanted to be a preacher. one of the guys wanted to be a preacher. and he learned to type his name and he thought, "okay, i'm prepared to be a preacher." (laughter) but of course his speech was impaired. but it didn't matter. that's what his heart wanted to do.

and one girl, she wanted to be a song leader. but her speech was impaired, but it didn't matter. we sing... and this is the way she led her sing. but we had fun, we enjoyed it. and we thought, we need to learn a sport. so it was softball. they could hit the ball. bases, they just kept running. (laughter) but you know what? we started with one and we graduated to three. the thing they loved most was going places. well, we went to the movies. one of the parents had money, so he paid for it. we went out to eat, and he paid for it. of course, parks and fishing was free. but then the jcs and the civitan club, they got interested. so they helped us. and the high school kids, they went to activities so we'd have more to help us.

today, though, things have changed. great programs, educational programs, achievements. my friends have jobs. and i want you to remember patty's purpose of smiling and love. and we too can make that our purpose, of spreading love, and we can change the world, just like she changed the lives of so many people. thank you. (cheers and applause)