Legends

 

In a world torn apart by politics, differing beliefs, agendas, distrust, I see heroes who rise up from the shadows. The heroes I see are the heroes I know: my boys. True, their battle is on an isolated front, unique from the rest of the world, but they are fierce warriors in a battle of incredible importance. They are changing the world one life at a time, and I believe the effect of winning that war will be far greater than any political maneuver. 

We were exiting the cafe line at Sam's club. We hadn't purchased anything except our lunch, so we scampered through the checkout line ahead of some of the people with full baskets. By the time our train of humans had slithered through the line, the caboose inadvertently cut in front of a woman with a heaping basket of goods. She said disgustedly: "Excuse me!" Kelton immediately turned around and said, "Oh, I'm so so sorry. We didn't mean to be unkind." The previously grumpy lady visibly softened and said, "Oh, that's okay. What a polite young man! Go on ahead." When we got outside, I told Kelton that his response reflected so much kindness. He said: "Everyone matters." 

On our way home after a long hike, we made another Sam's Club lunch run (I promise, it's not all we eat) Declan spotted a man with a "Need Food" sign next to the stop sign. Without any hesitation, he asked me to pull off so that he could get out of the car. He ran his untouched lunch to the gentleman with the sign. As we drove away, the man was ravenously eating the pizza and I saw tears running down his cheeks. 

Madigan is about 6'2 now and when we go into stores, he blends in a little less. He is absolutely always the first to offer assistance to anyone he sees struggling to reach something, to carry something, to even walk around the store on aged limbs. He's always quiet, never drawing attention to himself, but there have been countless times where I turn around to find him missing from our herd and spot him helping someone in need. 

Someone came up to us in the grocery store last night and said, "I know you!" I replied, "I know you too! How do I know you?" She said, "I don't know, but I REMEMBER you!" We finally narrowed it down to a favorite coffee shop where she was our barista for a short season. She said, "I remember you all because we had some incredible conversations when you would come in for coffee. You all made me feel seen, like I had value. I was really struggling then and it mattered."

We have been taking Lochlan for some long hikes because he has been struggling. It has been an almost daily sacrifice for these brothers, but they are as committed to his well being as I am. Some days I can tell they are weary and I know that traipsing through the woods is not high on the wish list, but they do not EVER complain. We have shared incredible experiences on those trail adventures and this brother has a rich life because of the commitment to love, because of the care his brothers give to him. 

~ Ode to our recent adventures ~