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.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPfWN8NRrv1
“Ma’am,” he said, “if you don’t come get him... that boy’s going to die in an orphanage.”20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMG74qPlBzF
No sugarcoating. Just the truth.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8kCJSLgGL3
“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.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0GySUJwxLC
And that’s when something in her heart said, Go.
She turned to my grandpa and asked what they should do.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSYVJ7VuJKt
Grandpa Ron—calm as ever—just said,20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4ua8FVU7TM
“Let’s go get that little boy.”
Now here’s the thing: they were 39 at the time.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpMPxt5Pmjj
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.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡO7IRO6vGVS
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.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwJSnHou1XK
She had to report every penny.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCSRApfMdDi
But she never made me feel like I had a price tag.
They didn’t rescue me for applause.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuVH7rZmOdq
They didn’t do it because it was easy.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHzkyv0tkJo
They did it because it was right.
And from that moment on, I had something I hadn’t known before:20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡw6ZolASAuc
I had a home.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAK3qUZVrP7
We made it as far as Kentucky before we stopped for the night.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡc3nrNqzJQX
The hotel was called The Prince and the Pauper.
Sounds like a fairy tale, right?20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfpRcR4hBwV
It wasn’t.
That name wasn’t just a nod to some storybook.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1cmS7GE1lf
It was a warning dressed up in royal-sounding words.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPLfLzypQDY
The outside looked decent—almost classy.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNYhNFfl8NB
But the inside? Whew.
The rooms looked like they hadn’t been cleaned since the actual Mark Twain walked the Earth.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡV9QRlcXvGF
The bed sheets had holes in them.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeZjKN6UKcT
The mattresses were flat, scratchy, and probably held together with bad decisions and duct tape.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmjqmSYY88U
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?20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9KltornMRw
It didn’t matter.
I had a full belly.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqARNNfQkcS
I had my stuffed animals.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPnH4rCEGWs
And for the first time in a long while...20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgUrC2CQ3g7
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.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7VIvsoVR2Q
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,20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzu051BNpFf
I could’ve turned out… real different.
Not in the anime supervillain kind of way—no powers, no glowing eyes, no final boss music.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOQW2HLbodp
But bitter?20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFlHmue49ya
Twisted by anger?20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2ANLjsb1O2
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.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡF3ueWC31Fz
I don’t wonder. I understand.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡa9RFLYJveZ
Because I was standing at that crossroads once.
But God.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡN0PHeXkr7a
God saw me in my Egypt.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIjPecbZrW2
A place of chains, of silence, of loneliness and shadows.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmsC6mKDUxE
And He brought me out.
Before I ever prayed.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDzPhrOHGZ2
Before I ever called His name.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2M6WUSnRBk
He was already moving.
That’s the kind of God He is.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdLjze0PPrd
And that’s why I’m telling this story.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡP5sE3JIqM9
Because I want someone reading this to realize:20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqMLKjG9Q0O
He sees you too.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJFYBnmFuAb
20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtzjsp3Mh4f
20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuFkuALGVt6
