Believe Again

SI.com - Sports Illustrated's internet brach - writes about the game in Ashland, Kansas in which Shalee Lehning took part. Joe Posnanski writes:

Among the bad is this: The closest mammogram machine to Ashland is two and a half hours away, in Wichita. Mammogram machines, you know, are used to detect the early stages of breast cancer ? the No. 1 form of cancer for women in the United States. The numbers are pretty staggering: The most commonly recited statistic I hear is that one in eight women in the U.S. will develop breast cancer at some point in their lives.

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I often wonder why the George Bailey scene in It's A Wonderful Life has made so many people cry happily through the years. I'm sure that Mister Potter (and his bitter Twitter equivalent @HenryFPotter) would say it's sentimental hogwash, but I think it's because many people want to believe that, deep down, we do want to help each other, and because many want to believe that in our moment of crisis people want to help us. There are plenty of moments in our lives when it's hard to buy into any of that. But, every now and again, people will find their way to a small town in Kansas to help out because ... well, just because. And it's just enough to make you believe again.