From an entire summer’s worth of explorations across this vast Wyoming state, it’s tough to choose just a one, single favorite story.
I’ve been to every corner of the state. Often, that’s with a particular story assignment in mind.
But sometimes, I also stumble across stories I never intended to find. Stories that stop you in your tracks and demand to be written, even when bosses are raising their eyebrows at you.
My favorite story is one of those. It’s the story of just a regular guy at a coffee shop in Evanston named Pete Bass. My interviews are typically 30-minute affairs, as I’m trying to get as many stories done in a day as possible.
But Pete’s story took an entire afternoon to hear. That kind of time is a luxury I don’t usually have, but Pete's lived a life that sounds like it came from a movie, and I was immediately hooked into listening. It starts with him running away from home to Hollywood, where he was almost raped.
That scared him back home, but didn’t scare him straight. Eventually, his drug addictions landed him in prison.
But remarkably, he’s not bitter about any of that. He sees that as God’s way of offering him a second chance in life. A chance that he embraced.
Today, Bass has finally overcome his addictions. He’s devoted his life and his coffee shop to helping others find their own second chances. It’s the kind of quiet, everyday hero that speaks to me.
We’re all struggling with something. And all of us need a second chance now and then.
Pete’s story was also a reminder to slow down and notice the world around me, because good stories are there only wherever we take the time to notice them.
