Adventurers, as I celebrate my six-year anniversary in the Padres front office, I thought I had this blog all figured out. Last week I figured it'd be worth re-telling how on a Thursday night I waited for my friend Sandy outside Smashburger on Eighth & Market, who couldn't see me but saw several ambulances in the area, and called my cell - which had died - frantically wondering if I was ok. I was going to write about how she saw me at the last second, beathed a sigh of relief, and picked me up for a wonderful concert at the House of Blues performed by Tijuana sibling duo Jesse + Joy. I was then going to write about how I got home, slept like four hours, then got up and delivered an A-MOtivational Presentation.
Easy, right? Adventures galore.
Well, a funny thing happened on the way to blog writing.
I stepped onto the campus of Alliant University, enshrouded by trees on a gray, sunless morning, and listened to my host, Miguel Vasquez. The creator of his own foundation, Miguel told me about how I'd be speaking to 30 high school students competing in a business plan competition. Miguel funded this competition so that inner-city juniors and seniors could see their dreams flourish.
So I listened. I spoke. I told the kids they could overcome ANYTHING. I told them to embrace their adversity because it could make them stronger. I told them to live with PASSION. I told them they WILL succeed.
They were fired up. They stood; they clapped; and I prepared to leave. On to the next Adventure, right?
But Miguel tugged at my arm and said, "Hey, this may sound crazy, but while you spoke one of the students decided to write you a letter. She's very shy and wanted to write to you instead of approaching you personally."
I took the letter, folded up into a square like the notes I used to give girls in high school, and read it. In Spanish, the essence of it was:
'Dear Mr. Montoya,
My name is Linda Cifuentes and I want to thank you for inspiring us today. I am Colombian like you, and received a special entry into this conference because I am 14 and am a cancer patient. My dream is to create and sell jewelry and they allowed me to bring my sister too. In case I don't make it, I want her to learn how to write a business plan so that she may carry on our business. Thank you for reminding me to follow my passions, to not give up, and to do whatever it takes to make my dreams come true.'
Wow. I was blown away. Such courage. Such brilliance. Such wisdom.
I insisted on meeting her and her shyness went away pretty quickly. We chatted and I know Miguel hoped I'd further encourage Linda. What happened was Linda encouraged me.
I made a vow to continue our friendship and intend to abide by that. I also learned of a special fundraiser to support her, where you can win a week's vacation in Maui. Check it out:
https://smilesforlinda.eventbrite.com/
All you have to do is buy an entry and you help her and other kids battling illness. But it ends March 31 so don't delay.
People ask what I love about my job and there are lots of things: great teammates, being in the sport of baseball, and being surrounded by fellow sports junkies. I have a wonderful boss who encourages me to try and do good things. But what I love the most is when the Padres support great causes and I get to meet incredible people.
Linda Cifuentes is incredible. And amazing. My adventures pale in comparison to hers and my heart or so-called courage does too. I took a lesson in living from HER.
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