You may have heard the story of Durham resident Chris Rosati, who had a recurring dream to steal a Krispy Kreme truck and drive around Durham and give out donuts, like a modern day Robin Hood. But instead of giving out other people’s money, he preferred to distribute smiles.
After starting a Facebook page dedicated to his dream, he was contacted by Krispy Kreme, which provided use of the Krispy Kreme Cruiser, a driver and free donuts.
So on Dec. 3, Chris traveled around Durham visiting his neighborhood, local schools and hospitals giving out Krispy Kreme donuts. He also provided an inspiring message.
Chris Rosati is a modern day Robin Hood -- spreading hope and optimism and a very clear message. In fact when he visited his alma mater, Durham Academy, he was asked to pose for pictures with some of the students. He was already known to them from a visit earlier in the year when he was asked to come speak. They remembered him and his talk. He had begun his presentation with this stark sentence: “I am going to die soon.”
See, what you also need to know is that Chris Rosati was diagnosed three years ago with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), a progressive neurodegenerative disease that affects nerve cells in the brain. Less than 50 percent of ALS patients live more than three years. To learn more about this disease visit http://www.alsa.org/
A stark sentence to be sure. Chris Rosati is 42 years old.
Most of the headlines on the many articles written about the great Krispy Kreme Donut caper went something like this: “Dying Man Gives Away Krispy Kreme Donuts.” I would change that to “Living Man Gives Away Donuts!”
Chris Rosati’s message is not one of dying, but rather one of living. Of smiling and giving and loving. Of performing random acts of kindness, of passing on a smile to someone else.
What an incredible way to live your life.