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Make a Difference

Sean and Leigh Anne Tuohy encourage cattlemen to turn around — get to know people, give, make a difference.

by Kindra Gordon for Angus Journal

TAMPA, Fla. (Feb. 6, 2013) — “You can make a difference,” Leigh Anne and Sean Tuohy told the more than 5,000 cattlemen and women during the general session opening the 2013 Cattle Industry Convention and National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA) Trade Show Feb. 6 at the Tampa Convention Center. The convention, which continues through Feb. 9, is the largest annual gathering of the beef industry.

 

The Tuohy’s lives were chronicled in the Hollywood blockbuster film The Blind Side, which tells the story of Michael Oher, a homeless teenager the couple adopted and, through their love and support, helped become a first-round draft pick in the NFL. Oher has played for the Baltimore Ravens for the past five years and was part of the team that won the Super Bowl just days ago.

 

Still giddy from the big win, Leigh Anne said, “We won the Super Bowl!” as she arrived on stage.

 

The husband-and-wife team shared many stories of their life during the past eight years with their two biological children and their adopted son, Michael. They noted that neither adopting Michael — nor his NFL achievements — was planned.

 

“Michael's coming into our lives — we call it one of God’s miracles,” Sean said.

 

Before they met Michael as a teenager, he was simply a kid falling through the cracks, Sean said. “Imagine who else is falling through the cracks.”

 

He added, “I could go anywhere and find a family 50 times better than ours. … There are so many of you doing wonderful things. This isn’t about us or who we are or what we do; we aren’t unique. It happened to be us. Yes, you can make a difference.”

 

The couple encouraged those in the audience to value other people and get to know them.

 

“If you simply smile, you may change their day,” Leigh Anne said. “Get to know them, and you may change their life.”

 

Sean added, “You don’t have to adopt or cure cancer, just make a difference.”

 

Today, Leigh Anne wears a bracelet inscribed with the words “Turn Around” because in meeting Michael that is what they did. When they saw Michael walking along the side of the road on the day before Thanksgiving, Sean admits he would have kept driving, but Leigh Anne said, “Turn around.” From that encounter, their journey to eventually becoming Michael’s adoptive parents began.

 

Leigh Anne shared, “When you walk past someone you are often sizing them up in your head and making judgments, but we say instead, ‘Turn around.’”

 

In concluding, she said, “We gave Michael a house and some hope, and he became the person he was supposed to.”

 

She also shared an analogy of a little boy walking on the beach with his grandfather. Thousands of starfish were lying on the beach, and the little boy was throwing as many as he could back into the water to save them.

 

His grandfather said, “There are thousands of them. You can’t make a difference.”

 

The little boy threw another one back into the ocean and said, “I made a difference to that one.”

 

Sean and Leigh Anne now have a book of their own out — with the last chapter titled "Turn Around." The book is titled In a Heartbeat: Sharing the Power of Cheerful Giving. They also have a foundation. Learn more at www.makingithappenfoundation.com.