A New kind of Story...

A lovely overcast Saturday morning opened my eyes to a new kind of "story." I was just waking up when my dad called to say that there was an Iraq soldier coming back from the war and there was a little "welcome home" surprise for him. I didn't really know what was going to happen, but it sounded very cool, so my mom drove me over to what I had always thought was just an ordinary street. She dropped me off and I walked over to my dad. He handed me an American flag, and we and about 20 or 25 other people waited for the arrival of this amazing hero.

After about ten minutes, we heard horns honking and people started saying "he's coming!" And so I stood off to the side of the street as two policemen on motorcycles drove by, and following them was a little black car. There was one man driving, and Elliot, the hero, sitting next to him. He had on a black shirt with a black jacket on, jeans, and sunglasses.

I would have never known that he was fighting for our country. He arrived and his mom gave him a big hug. There was a little ceremony, where a bunch of supporting groups were mentioned. One group that is big is the Blue Star Moms, which is an organization for mothers who have their children out in the war.

I would tell you all of the groups and all of the things that were mentioned, but this post would be too long! :)

Anyway, what I got out of it was amazing. This man who lived in an ordinary house in an ordinary town had volunteered to go out and fight for the country. One lady asked him when he was to go back, and he said the 21st. Then she asked how long he was going to still be in the service, and he said,


.... ....... . "Two years. I'm not done fighting yet."


Those words have just stayed in my head since yesterday. The bravery and courage in that young man is just out of this world.

As I said in the beginning, this opened my eyes to a new "story." I always talk about bravery and courage and heroes, but I don't usually think about the amazing soldiers at war right now. It just blows me away that that ordinary street with the one house that looks like every other house could have such an amazing and courageous story. I will never think of the war the same now that my mind will remember that there are soldiers out there, and that we are still fighting.

Amazing.

One Awesome Day

The day started with waking up at 6:30 and driving to McDonald's where we rode our bikes to Shadow Cliffs to watch some of our friends in a small triathlon. It then continued in to riding home, and going to one place that my whole family loves: Starbucks! My dad and I played a couple rounds of my favorite game, chess where my castle lost their king a couple of times. (But don't worry, the king was not killed, just injured. He plans to be up and fighting again by tomorrow and he'll win next time). Anyway, the day continued with a lazy home day. We had been planing to go to the A's game. It was Donate Life night, and since I had a kidney transplant I was invited to go out on the field. I didn't really know what I was going to do out on the field, but I was still excited. We were invited to a barbecue where there were two men, Rob Combi and Jim Leahey who organized it. Rob told us what was going to happen. I was going to go out on the field, and run to a player that I was assigned to. We were to stay out there for the National Anthem and then get a ball signed and run back. I was very nervous.

After eating a lovely veggie burger, we were told that it was time. We walked down a couple flights of stairs and down, down, down, down! Finally, we were at the edge of the field. We were guiding by a lady named Melissa. She told us where each of us were going, and I was supposed to go to left field. I asked many questions because I did not want to run to the wrong place. And so, when Melissa told all of us (other kids who had transplants and me) to run, I ran to left field. However, there was no one there, and so I was supposed to run to center field. I was frustrated for a while, but now I realize that instead of being mad that I ran to the wrong place, I should feel fortunate because I got to run on the A's baseball field from left field to center field. :)

After all of that, I got to the guy who I was assigned to. I didn't really know much about the A's team, but after I realized that I was standing next to Rajai Davis during the National Anthem. He signed my baseball, and I ran back.





And that was a day I'll never forget. (: