Tuohy urges others to ‘turn around’
Leigh Anne Tuohy’s life changed when she told her husband to turn the car around so she could talk to a young boy walking alone down the sidewalk. The boy, Michael Oher, became part of the Tuohy family and eventually an NFL football player, inspiring a book and movie titled “The Blind Side.”
At the Vestavia Hills City Schools Foundation luncheon on Oct. 8, Tuohy told the audience to look for ways to turn around and do good things for those who need it.
“My challenge to you is to do something today you didn’t do yesterday,” Tuohy said. “Nothing exciting happens in your comfort zone.”
Since the book and movie thrust her family into the spotlight, Tuohy said she has been all over the country speaking to groups large and small. She said she chooses organizations that are active in bettering the community, which is why she chose to come to the Foundation’s luncheon. In a world of givers and takers, Tuohy said, the VHCSF was a giver.
Her speech at the luncheon included the story of meeting Oher and bringing him into her family, which she called an “absolute God-driven miracle.”
She recalled the struggle to help him graduate with honors and the first time coach Nick Saban, then at LSU, saw Oher practice and walked out ready to offer him a full football scholarship.
She also talked about the experience of having a book, then a movie based on their lives. The Tuohy family frequently gets asked about the film’s authenticity.
Though they all agree the film was pretty close to reality, her son SJ likes to joke that “Miss Sandy” [Sandra Bullock] portrayed a nicer version of his mother than reality. In the movie and real life, Tuohy said that the chance to meet and raise Oher was “a love story.”
“Family doesn’t have to match,” she said.
Tuohy feels her family benefited even more than Oher from the lessons of unconditional giving they learned. When her children were in high school, she gave them money to keep in their cars to give to people they saw begging. Tuohy encouraged the audience to pay attention and respond to the need they see around them, even for people very different from them.
“We are so guilty of valuing people incorrectly,” Tuohy said. “You need to learn to love someone who doesn’t look like you. And if you don’t have someone in your social circle that doesn’t look like you, shame on you.”
Tuohy answered questions after her speech and held a meet-and-greet to sign books for audience members. Throughout, her message was to get involved in organizations like the VHCSF to make their community better. Even if adopting and raising a child is too much, Tuohy said there are always ways to help.
“All we did was turn our car around and we offered him hope,” Tuohy said. “Everyone was born with the ability to change a life.”