JOLLY DAYS

Good From Bad

One of those shining stories that arises out of despair — one family helps another:

''He said, 'I would like to help you,' ” Efrem Fields, 31, said in a phone interview from his hotel yesterday…He just said, 'You have a big family, and it's hard to take care of a big family in hard times.' He's right about that — it is.”

A van showed up at the hotel to take the family to the airport on Saturday afternoon. Fields and his wife, Shelita, 28, were frightened to fly, but they managed. They arrived in Boston that evening…Fields said, ''it was a beautiful experience.” The children instantly hit it off and have been playing together most days since, both families say.

[They] have pledged to provide housing for the family for a year, and are trying to arrange for the children to attend school. The Fieldses plan to attend their first-ever Major League baseball game, tonight at Fenway Park.

Why did the Fields family attend a baseball game? The family in question was that of Curt and Shonda Schilling.

''They are beautiful people, God-loving people,” Fields said. ''I am very grateful for what he's done for me.”