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.155Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNGAMfDDDnT
“Ma’am,” he said, “if you don’t come get him... that boy’s going to die in an orphanage.”155Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8PpNsyoylJ
No sugarcoating. Just the truth.155Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCXS9rp5f1e
“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.155Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQuLzmp56ff
And that’s when something in her heart said, Go.
She turned to my grandpa and asked what they should do.155Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWtorw8Xj0U
Grandpa Ron—calm as ever—just said,155Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcAO7SLhS12
“Let’s go get that little boy.”
Now here’s the thing: they were 39 at the time.155Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjXx4vOgWjG
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.155Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIOMXjYcesx
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.155Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpJl6nLcLH3
She had to report every penny.155Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgyyNiwqrbN
But she never made me feel like I had a price tag.
They didn’t rescue me for applause.155Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtlKdcdIv3i
They didn’t do it because it was easy.155Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡilNN3HKKd1
They did it because it was right.
And from that moment on, I had something I hadn’t known before:155Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxc0YsfcO93
I had a home.155Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSS6r3tniAV
We made it as far as Kentucky before we stopped for the night.155Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYw2Y0MlQ8h
The hotel was called The Prince and the Pauper.
Sounds like a fairy tale, right?155Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDxKzYKKOGc
It wasn’t.
That name wasn’t just a nod to some storybook.155Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyKwQvKcAih
It was a warning dressed up in royal-sounding words.155Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡY1jYZh97b5
The outside looked decent—almost classy.155Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGLuapiXmcy
But the inside? Whew.
The rooms looked like they hadn’t been cleaned since the actual Mark Twain walked the Earth.155Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡapVicjSa3C
The bed sheets had holes in them.155Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuP5IiupEvz
The mattresses were flat, scratchy, and probably held together with bad decisions and duct tape.155Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgZbYAX6wil
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?155Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsf69s8skAk
It didn’t matter.
I had a full belly.155Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdil7OLEkDP
I had my stuffed animals.155Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0HLTf78aHp
And for the first time in a long while...155Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUX5tztwU98
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.155Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3Z9kRu5spl
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,155Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAeMN9yZX7f
I could’ve turned out… real different.
Not in the anime supervillain kind of way—no powers, no glowing eyes, no final boss music.155Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvumqkABhQQ
But bitter?155Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxdt6Vxxts4
Twisted by anger?155Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡl6jJxCOcQY
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.155Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwotKtc1lB8
I don’t wonder. I understand.155Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡp8V47rJB5g
Because I was standing at that crossroads once.
But God.155Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFpzDUMgpCl
God saw me in my Egypt.155Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡanye59Ymag
A place of chains, of silence, of loneliness and shadows.155Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRSmR93zBiV
And He brought me out.
Before I ever prayed.155Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtuFJp638YK
Before I ever called His name.155Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzucpgmCGlN
He was already moving.
That’s the kind of God He is.155Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDOCtxT2Nu0
And that’s why I’m telling this story.155Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡp7W6eKv9qO
Because I want someone reading this to realize:155Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlWUiP5Avab
He sees you too.155Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMZXKOMkKbo
155Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVBrno6Sp4r
155Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXDtzDn5wZx
