never quit

Thursday was one of those days. Full of excitement and reflective thought, happiness with a tinge of sadness thrown in best describing our mood as Chuck, KRP, and I loaded up and headed off for Nevada. Three people that physically might make one and half if melded together!

You Never Know

Our friend Chuck and Brandon hit it off when Brandon was visiting us one summer.  The two of them formed a friendship:  mentor and student, comrades, and fishing buddies they became. I must admit they are an odd compo. Brandon with his youthful angst and Chuck a retired justice dept. special agent. Who would have thought?

Brandon has worked hard to achieve his goals. You see Brandon has learning disabilities and I hope he does not mind that I share this here. He never said never, never quit, he never gave up. Blessed with some special educators, real teachers that never quit, never said never, and never gave up on him he learned. Parents and extended family that never quit him, never gave up, and fought the battles to raise a child to become a good heart-ed, honest and ethical, confident young man.

When testing time rolled around he could have accepted extra help but he decided to take the tests without it and he scored! No adjusted or special diploma for him. That took courage IMHO. Not only did he achieve a High School Diploma but also he bettered that, received an advanced one, 9th in his class, and became a scholarship recipient to boot.

So off we go excited to attend his graduation and yet well, feeling old. He has so much potential but we worry about the state of the world. Please God that you watch over him and never quit him.

A few bits of the trip and ceremony.

I am gonna miss my little fishing buddy. Sometime when I was not looking he grew up!