Grandma Lou and Grandpa Ron Enter the Scene
Years later, my grandma told me about the phone call that changed everything.
It came from my dad’s commanding officer.59Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCLxoqs5QI3
“Ma’am,” he said, “if you don’t come get him... that boy’s going to die in an orphanage.”59Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡO0WDaSvKNX
No sugarcoating. Just the truth.59Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡptwsLkUwEw
“With his weak immune system and his blindness... he’s going to be picked on for the rest of his life.”
That’s what she was told.59Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKfpg3mYnLm
And that’s when something in her heart said, Go.
She turned to my grandpa and asked what they should do.59Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡa7iEeOlxHM
Grandpa Ron—calm as ever—just said,59Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9d52sZI4wy
“Let’s go get that little boy.”
Now here’s the thing: they were 39 at the time.59Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2qH0VkwgNJ
That’s not really “grandparent age.” They were still young, still building their own life. But they didn’t hesitate. They didn’t ask, Can we afford this? or What will people say? They didn’t treat me like a burden.59Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAV7GHGX3Nq
They treated me like family.
They drove down, picked me up, and brought me home.
The courts officially gave me to them. Grandma Lou had to keep track of how much money she spent on me each month—diapers, clothes, food, medicine—everything.59Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgTfWwoGEzZ
She had to report every penny.59Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ140ntxdRkr
But she never made me feel like I had a price tag.
They didn’t rescue me for applause.59Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHw5h7JYTx4
They didn’t do it because it was easy.59Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQLMFTSGTFY
They did it because it was right.
And from that moment on, I had something I hadn’t known before:59Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYiv2FE3Vzf
I had a home.59Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZ9KQkvPzwi
We made it as far as Kentucky before we stopped for the night.59Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMTDq0eKn8f
The hotel was called The Prince and the Pauper.
Sounds like a fairy tale, right?59Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6oR7beXNge
It wasn’t.
That name wasn’t just a nod to some storybook.59Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtgQjTcxqhc
It was a warning dressed up in royal-sounding words.59Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVUEx2fI5qE
The outside looked decent—almost classy.59Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrfCPp0fZb4
But the inside? Whew.
The rooms looked like they hadn’t been cleaned since the actual Mark Twain walked the Earth.59Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZT3sCKOMlX
The bed sheets had holes in them.59Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡewOglUqJSr
The mattresses were flat, scratchy, and probably held together with bad decisions and duct tape.59Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHHGoPEgKhz
It was the kind of place where you don’t take your shoes off—and if you do, you say a prayer first.
But to me?59Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0wE73Ho8gU
It didn’t matter.
I had a full belly.59Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTVt14nM3Q2
I had my stuffed animals.59Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡE6kWr4RcPY
And for the first time in a long while...59Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNl0kSGtvdo
I had people who actually wanted me.
Even in a crummy hotel room in Kentucky, surrounded by threadbare blankets and cheap carpet, I was beginning to feel something that almost felt like peace.
It wouldn’t come all at once.59Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUnYYgLhQP5
But this—this was the start.
Looking back now, I realize something important:
If God hadn’t been protecting me before I even knew His name,59Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGFJDk90j8k
I could’ve turned out… real different.
Not in the anime supervillain kind of way—no powers, no glowing eyes, no final boss music.59Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNkRcz0XAOY
But bitter?59Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcL0XZCEAdM
Twisted by anger?59Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGTEy0wNRdM
Eaten up by loneliness and pain?
Yeah. I could’ve gone down that road.
Some folks look at villains in shows and wonder how they got so messed up.59Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcz6Jaf8Yw0
I don’t wonder. I understand.59Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHwdDdi58De
Because I was standing at that crossroads once.
But God.59Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQaQTq7uu0g
God saw me in my Egypt.59Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIHFNoIc8IW
A place of chains, of silence, of loneliness and shadows.59Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvncXme0ptE
And He brought me out.
Before I ever prayed.59Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2JS6THMXWZ
Before I ever called His name.59Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡt8dXXVJZ9v
He was already moving.
That’s the kind of God He is.59Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡobMeP0QVZp
And that’s why I’m telling this story.59Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡU7pFglNDrB
Because I want someone reading this to realize:59Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOhKUgqOvE5
He sees you too.59Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGBmJDoII5v
59Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgkNLoG1SoY
59Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡV0OVuDxGzW
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