Daniel Curtis, from CaringBridge.org

This space is usually reserved for my guest from the show,  and this week that person is David Bull, Executive Chef and partner of Congress and Second Bar + Kitchen, on the ground floor of the Austonian in downtown Austin, Texas.

He took time to talk with me about the Benefit for Daniel Curtis planned for July 13, 2011 from 6:30 p.m. until 9:00 p.m.  in the Grand Ballroom at the AT &T Executive Education and Conference Cneter.

Seems the entire Austin food community is joining together to raise money to help offset the immense expense of rehabilitation after a freak diving accident on May 30, 2011 left Daniel a quadriplegic.

The thing is, we’ve had David on the show a couple of times before (and we love him) and you can find his bio on our website.

Instead we thought we’d feature a little about Daniel Curtis.

Everyone who knows Daniel is in love with him. It seems he is kind, upbeat and inspires everyone around him to be better and to do better.  And he leads by example.  So having to deal with such a life-changing occurrence seems so unfair.

But read what Daniel said about it on his Caring Bridge website:

“…given the fact that all these things happened, I consider myself very fortunate …. Life will never be what it once was. I hope and am optimistic that I will fully recover and regain all the mobility, dexterity, and strength I once had. Life, I intend, will likely be better than it was because most people don’t get this kind of second chance. There are many things I didn’t see before, and a lot of things I took for granted. I see the world with a new set of eyes and a new found appreciation for the simple things… a new lease on life.”

He also shares the following:

“Life can throw you a curveball and things can feel impossible but I believe the human mind and body always have the ability to triumph. It’s a very simple quote this time but the words resonate in my mind daily… ‘Never, never, never give up.’”~Winston Churchill

With an attitude like that, and with all the love that surrounds him from his friends, family and admirers, we think Daniel Curtis is going to be okay no matter what.