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.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqg7tKwrSFj
“Ma’am,” he said, “if you don’t come get him... that boy’s going to die in an orphanage.”45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFOxQo1m5rW
No sugarcoating. Just the truth.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhCoqNbphCb
“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.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpMtceYS5ue
And that’s when something in her heart said, Go.
She turned to my grandpa and asked what they should do.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLdkgVB13cn
Grandpa Ron—calm as ever—just said,45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0ML8dgZU1q
“Let’s go get that little boy.”
Now here’s the thing: they were 39 at the time.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFabrAb6L1w
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.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1sSIzUE4iw
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.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQkzSFWdKe6
She had to report every penny.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUBZNkoeqrv
But she never made me feel like I had a price tag.
They didn’t rescue me for applause.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIWTB6oYdZk
They didn’t do it because it was easy.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ131LhVE7sL
They did it because it was right.
And from that moment on, I had something I hadn’t known before:45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJ9RZDyEbpS
I had a home.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡODR1vjM6x0
We made it as far as Kentucky before we stopped for the night.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡl5BvC2WoHA
The hotel was called The Prince and the Pauper.
Sounds like a fairy tale, right?45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡw4vDQfgIGM
It wasn’t.
That name wasn’t just a nod to some storybook.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhJyedZGNCs
It was a warning dressed up in royal-sounding words.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYIr8rPTHZQ
The outside looked decent—almost classy.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡm3WkHVP2mF
But the inside? Whew.
The rooms looked like they hadn’t been cleaned since the actual Mark Twain walked the Earth.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9U5ZyrcLJJ
The bed sheets had holes in them.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdzO7XNhpj0
The mattresses were flat, scratchy, and probably held together with bad decisions and duct tape.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXBIx9UuetB
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?45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡksAFJ6tJGz
It didn’t matter.
I had a full belly.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡT9XM56Dqe9
I had my stuffed animals.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoLSHlYP4nj
And for the first time in a long while...45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgwuhtvt6KH
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.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5OwzyagMvC
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,45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDg3pYcC5qJ
I could’ve turned out… real different.
Not in the anime supervillain kind of way—no powers, no glowing eyes, no final boss music.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyFUKoIu1sX
But bitter?45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmtput8CMGP
Twisted by anger?45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡig0vuYnlNL
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.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8BZ51BP6yi
I don’t wonder. I understand.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3iA1zjd4pY
Because I was standing at that crossroads once.
But God.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkqEmsjMgFY
God saw me in my Egypt.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKcC1LyOfoW
A place of chains, of silence, of loneliness and shadows.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAr2D8MHYkz
And He brought me out.
Before I ever prayed.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcrs1GyoqoQ
Before I ever called His name.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLPPnlxGlpA
He was already moving.
That’s the kind of God He is.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXpYwENJ7wk
And that’s why I’m telling this story.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3JRxEqA4LA
Because I want someone reading this to realize:45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6aPHJMsJbU
He sees you too.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnLpzH14nZ5
45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzHQGV2SUFT
45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOXKMQKrifd
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