And in that I wanted to share my special tribute to one such person. We met Matthew when he was in his late teens. To be honest we did not know where he would end up in life but did not have very high hopes. He had a harsh up bringing and was a pretty moody young man. Him and his sister would come for weekend visits with our College Girl (then High School Girl).
Well one such weekend Matthew was pretty down in the dumps. He really did not wish to return home and to the day to day life he was use too. We asked him to go ahead and stay a week with us. Nothing special, just a week away. We hoped it would give him time to regroup before he returned home. Often that is all one needs to get a second wind on life. And sure enough after a week he returned home. In time we lost track of him, his sister and the group of folks that "High School Girl" was hanging with. That is the way of life.
Then one day a chat popped up on Facebook. It was Matthew. He had found me and wanted to have a chance to talk. I was so happy to hear from him. And it was wonderful to catch up with him. But a wonderful thing happened in the conversation. Matthew started to thank Dear Hubby and I for that one week. It seems that was just what he needed. That one week of what he called 'normal' life (do we really lead a normal life?) helped him start to make plans for his future. And what grand plans they were.
Matthew joined the military. Wow...who would have thought it? He was a trouble young man that pulled his self up by the britches and made a change in his life. A change that required him to dedicate his life and honor to all of us. I am so tickled. Matthew did his tour, went to school and has been working hard every since. He has met the love of his life and married. Even getting a son out of the whole deal. It is a great life. One full of joy. Matthew often talks to me on Facebook now. He shares the day to day events with me. Telling me of his job, antics and a lil of home life. He is a great source of joy. I am thankful for him. I am thankful for his dedication and service. I am thankful for his friendship. But most of all, I am thankful that he felt the desire to serve and followed through on that desire.
Happy Veteran's Day to all those who serve or have served.
What a wonderful story! We were foster parents, and one teen girl in particular touched our hearts. She was with us eight months and went on to give her life to the Lord and become a wonderful mother.
ReplyDeleteThe lad is an inspiration.
ReplyDeleteWhat a heartfelt and touching story. About 13 years ago I was doing childcare for a young boy about the age of 11 and he was living a troubled life at home with a single mom and a sister with ADHD and I had them second shift while mom worked. Hubby and I had started foster parenting classes just because of this little guy for "just in case" purposes. Well, one weekend while we were out of town camping his mom left him in town all by himself, she had had enough and couldn't take it anymore. Both him and her had called and left messages on our machine. Him asking us to come get him that he had walked to a friends house and her calling and telling us that if we wanted him we could go get him. And when we got back, we did just that.
ReplyDeleteWe knew is father that he had not seen in 6 years and was good friends with his uncle so doing what we thought was right, we called his dad and made him aware of the situation. His dad came and talked to him and he decided that he would go with his dad. I went to court the day his "mother" signed away parental rights and all.
Long story short 2 years later his dad committed suicide over problems with his then wife which had to do with her not liking this young boy. Sad to say but he went back to live with his mom at this time, they had made up.
To this day we still keep in contact and he now lives in Arizona and we love him very much and when he comes to Ohio to visit, he always stops by so that we can see what a great person he has become and what challenges he overcome. He thanks us for what we did when I was watching him while his mom worked and how much we taught him during that time.
It's amazing sometimes how important the little things you do can mean so much to someone else.
Lynette, you are truly an amazing woman and you and John have huge hearts!
It sounds like your very proud of Matthew! Hope he had a wonderful Veteran's day.
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