A thank you.

Last August a little tortoise was born with a spinal anomaly. My friend Randy -- who cares for spines of people AND raises tortoises -- decided to give this little fellow his best life. Randy took Helix the little bitty tortoise whose back legs were twisted and didn't work, gave him wheels, hand fed him daily, and recorded this little guy's life in a way that has inspired countless.

Photo cred: Randy Betz

Randy didn't stop there. He began writing books about Helix -- to share the story of the little tortoise that COULD as well as to spread awareness about living with a disability. 

Sweet little Helix died on Thursday. His little body just stopped breathing. I never knew I could be so sad about the death of a little tortoise I didn't even get to meet in real life.

But see Helix didn't just inspire Randy. Helix gave me a means to write my first children's book. In less than a month, "Helix Rolls Into A Sleepover" will release. It is a sweet little story about Helix being invited to a friend's house for a sleepover but...there are stairs. I hope you'll order (available here for preorder now!) and see how Helix still has a sleepover. More importantly I hope you will order to see how Helix continues his legacy of helping develop empathy and awareness.

My friend Randy doesn't intend to let Helix and his inspiration stop -- he has formed a non-profit for helping children who need wheelchairs get wheelchairs! You can check it out  at helixwheelsfoundation.org!

Thank you, Helix, for giving us all the reminder to push through our challenges. Thank you for daily showing us how to overcome and persist. Thank you for legitimately making the world a better place -- a place where wheels are super cool and friends find more in common than their differences.

You will be missed but not forgotten.