Bluegrass Mama

Extreme Makeover: Home Edition has been in Louisville this week, and it has literally been the talk of the town.

Instead of a makeover, this was a demolition and complete rebuild for a family that has already been in the news. Their oldest son, Patrick Henry Hughes, is blind and confined to a wheelchair. He is also a gifted musician who plays in the University of Louisville marching band. His dad learns the formations and pushes Patrick’s wheelchair. Dad works nights to take Patrick to classes (and band practice). Unfortunately, their house was far from handicap accessible.

I’m sure this is pretty common wherever Extreme Makeover goes, but the volunteer positions were filled almost as soon as they were announced. The local builder heading up the project had to rent additional shuttle buses to bus in all the spectators who wanted to watch the progress. It has been the lead story on just about every newscast (though a few did lead off yesterday with a local visit from some guy called “Mr. President”). They estimate that up to 5,000 waited hours in the rain to see the “reveal” yesterday.

Keep in mind that I watch very little television other than sports and the local news. Extreme Makeover is one of very few current shows which I have actually seen. In fact, I’ve seen it twice. I was probably a houseguest both times and my host turned it on.

So why have I spent the week reading everything I could find about it in the paper and online and flipping between television stations to get as much coverage as possible? I mean, Ty’s cute and all, but I’m no groupie. I guess it’s because I love a story like this, where thousands of people come together to help someone. Especially a person like Patrick who’s been a positive role model since he was a young child performing for a local children’s telethon.

Go to this site and read more about it. The show will probably air in February (I’ve heard it will be one of the two-hour special editions). Trust me–I’ll be watching!