Day 39: Testing the Ice

This is a book about Jackie Robinson, the baseball player who ended segregation in the American past time. I learned some interesting things about him--he couldn't swim, he worked through thirteen seasons of taunting and jeering (or cheering) before he retired ten years later, and was a very courageous man. It actually tells two stories; it tells about how Mr. Robinson got into the major leagues with the Dodgers, and also tells about a specific experience where he walks across the ice, in spite of the fact that he can't swim, to make sure it is safe for his kids to ice skate on. It's a really interesting book, and was written by his daughter, which I think makes it even cooler. Sometimes I read these historical biographies and I think to myself, "I want to change the world like that." After reading this book was one of those times. It's short and sweet, but poignant. It makes you want to inspire, to dive in to what might be a hardship, and to change the world for the better...not for the fame or fortune, but just to know that the world is a better place because you did something.