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.ＰＥＮＡＮＡy5y1Ypk3Vs
“Ma’am,” he said, “if you don’t come get him... that boy’s going to die in an orphanage.”45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGqV1p97hba
No sugarcoating. Just the truth.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcxGxNGWbxn
“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.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqKtxMT955A
And that’s when something in her heart said, Go.
She turned to my grandpa and asked what they should do.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVs5hdA9qrr
Grandpa Ron—calm as ever—just said,45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2MpD8LEBR1
“Let’s go get that little boy.”
Now here’s the thing: they were 39 at the time.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOQ9U12bH07
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.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZfQoWSWBEg
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.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwgd250vJvQ
She had to report every penny.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUNzxbH6Ql9
But she never made me feel like I had a price tag.
They didn’t rescue me for applause.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhmId9GOwOR
They didn’t do it because it was easy.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJYgCiBgu3R
They did it because it was right.
And from that moment on, I had something I hadn’t known before:45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyhl8gZqOv2
I had a home.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0NNR9hWmBP
We made it as far as Kentucky before we stopped for the night.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYNXlqDtTpB
The hotel was called The Prince and the Pauper.
Sounds like a fairy tale, right?45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFmy2IlMxkh
It wasn’t.
That name wasn’t just a nod to some storybook.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXoY8hgfySg
It was a warning dressed up in royal-sounding words.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxcUItXlULy
The outside looked decent—almost classy.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6H7P1cKQjx
But the inside? Whew.
The rooms looked like they hadn’t been cleaned since the actual Mark Twain walked the Earth.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbjts19ZN0I
The bed sheets had holes in them.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhOeoYbS33Y
The mattresses were flat, scratchy, and probably held together with bad decisions and duct tape.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyoW8A12Non
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.ＰＥＮＡＮＡD0s1Dh0rPZ
It didn’t matter.
I had a full belly.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7cUt8eDEWl
I had my stuffed animals.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSPScAcWiu7
And for the first time in a long while...45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAlxLFO8A4l
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.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsQJEMT9ae3
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.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPN8rNnoySj
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.ＰＥＮＡＮＡo4g87jNlTA
But bitter?45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsKxiuSbbQn
Twisted by anger?45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡczJSTaAv0W
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.ＰＥＮＡＮＡB2sBODe9zZ
I don’t wonder. I understand.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJq2TTSmcr4
Because I was standing at that crossroads once.
But God.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3WqrFSbw7K
God saw me in my Egypt.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoPV5fzpTth
A place of chains, of silence, of loneliness and shadows.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡANqoqGexia
And He brought me out.
Before I ever prayed.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZZB9meIC3U
Before I ever called His name.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOu9tyD3dSg
He was already moving.
That’s the kind of God He is.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡt7fiU96FI8
And that’s why I’m telling this story.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡx2QHKrosjx
Because I want someone reading this to realize:45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡK25JK768x7
He sees you too.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTBy8us2QY9
45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡe9TCaKJr5W
45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeTYLCh3cpY
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