There’s a movie coming out by that name on April 29. The picture above is of Ron Hall, the author that wrote the book, and lived the story. That is Rhonda, and Ron’s wife next to him. The movie stars Renee Zellweger, Greg Kinnear, Djimon Hounsou, and Jon Voight.
In January 2014 our family took a vacation to Cabo San Lucas. We dined one evening at the resort’s teppanyaki grille. Seated at our table was a well-dressed and sophisticated looking couple. We struck up a conversation and of course Rhonda asked, “What do you do?” He humbly responded, “I used to sell art, but lately I’ve been writing a bit”. “Oh”, Rhonda said, “What do you write? Is there anything I might recognize?” The man said, “Mostly I’m known for a little book called Same Kind of Different as me”. Rhonda exclaimed, “I’ve read it!” My next instinct of course was to impolitely google it.
We ended up spending the evening with the Hall’s. They shared a lot about their family, life after Ron’s first wife (the one in the book) passed away, and their life at that time. We learned he had sued Disney to get the rights to his book back after they removed the faith out of it. Ron promised to send Rhonda an autographed copy of his book, as well as one of the sequel, “What Difference do it Make”. True to his word, the books showed up in the mail. There is a picture of Rhonda with the books.
I won’t tell you the whole story, but I’ve read both books. They are wonderful and inspiring. Ron grew up in poverty with an alcoholic father. He got married, but was unsettled and aimless. He bought a piece of art, which his wife was not happy about that given their financial situation. Ron parlayed that experience into becoming an international, jet setting art dealer; the kind that sells Van Goh’s and Picasso’s.
Marital problems drove them to become Christians, and get involved in homeless causes.
Ron actually took in an uneducated, modern day, black slave/ex-convict for nine years. Ron and Denver were recognized in the Whitehouse, and his story continues to inspire people to make a difference.
We have not seen the movie, but we can’t wait to see it. I’d encourage you to read these two books and ask yourself. “How can I make a difference?”
That's Rhonda with her autographed books.