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.163Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSCK6i6xWm2
“Ma’am,” he said, “if you don’t come get him... that boy’s going to die in an orphanage.”163Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQ5BuYFi88v
No sugarcoating. Just the truth.163Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVi20sLNO3U
“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.163Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBfvHVwmrgt
And that’s when something in her heart said, Go.
She turned to my grandpa and asked what they should do.163Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZwFLhBG69J
Grandpa Ron—calm as ever—just said,163Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuew6uHRQvW
“Let’s go get that little boy.”
Now here’s the thing: they were 39 at the time.163Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfPZJKzISGb
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.163Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDhkCqmnlTQ
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.163Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWE54OPnB3W
She had to report every penny.163Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4cu2NGWjqU
But she never made me feel like I had a price tag.
They didn’t rescue me for applause.163Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwOiNiY7eiD
They didn’t do it because it was easy.163Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8rdxYG1977
They did it because it was right.
And from that moment on, I had something I hadn’t known before:163Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPMa63mnqkf
I had a home.163Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnyhpTE6rLs
We made it as far as Kentucky before we stopped for the night.163Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0mfCyadAV9
The hotel was called The Prince and the Pauper.
Sounds like a fairy tale, right?163Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtd3P1rwvuL
It wasn’t.
That name wasn’t just a nod to some storybook.163Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5doSqclsfj
It was a warning dressed up in royal-sounding words.163Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡytuu2yyZom
The outside looked decent—almost classy.163Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡir54VhgHep
But the inside? Whew.
The rooms looked like they hadn’t been cleaned since the actual Mark Twain walked the Earth.163Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYoGxbUGFOy
The bed sheets had holes in them.163Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3ouV3CvTPp
The mattresses were flat, scratchy, and probably held together with bad decisions and duct tape.163Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcomGRLmekz
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?163Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZhibNhkJS9
It didn’t matter.
I had a full belly.163Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡl3sCVBXwAA
I had my stuffed animals.163Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJo0Nj0YkLm
And for the first time in a long while...163Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5iUNbua1gR
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.163Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVaeufxG3wA
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,163Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWZW57zySFn
I could’ve turned out… real different.
Not in the anime supervillain kind of way—no powers, no glowing eyes, no final boss music.163Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDX14Wm55Wd
But bitter?163Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWjoQZBzrkg
Twisted by anger?163Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡB5R1KjyPia
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.163Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfUTWGETAnX
I don’t wonder. I understand.163Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ63lJ8vODia
Because I was standing at that crossroads once.
But God.163Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1G2sUPhM0v
God saw me in my Egypt.163Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpxdV6JOidS
A place of chains, of silence, of loneliness and shadows.163Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaz72qeXj50
And He brought me out.
Before I ever prayed.163Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAOnQvwEpKK
Before I ever called His name.163Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡF070ifxQSj
He was already moving.
That’s the kind of God He is.163Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqdUFWFN8PX
And that’s why I’m telling this story.163Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwiJmBrCLvw
Because I want someone reading this to realize:163Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡweVig0q1UZ
He sees you too.163Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjasDBev3EJ
163Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgg0AmLWL8k
163Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpjaQXu8Mja
