After the ceremony, as the crowd swarmed the field for photos, Leo was approached by a freshman boy. The kid was a participant in Leo’s mentoring program, a boy who had lost his own mother the year prior. He looked lost amidst the sea of celebrating families.
The boy stared at the tarnished medal peeking out from Leo’s open gown.
Leo paused. He smiled, a gentle, understanding curve of his lips. He reached up to the lapel of his gown, unpinned a small, enameled “Honor Guard” pin he had received for his volunteer work, and knelt down slightly to be at the boy’s eye level. He pressed the pin firmly into the younger boy’s palm, closing his small fingers around it.
He leaned in and whispered the words that had saved him a decade ago, the words that turned a piece of tin into a shield. “It’s not just a toy, kid. It’s a promise.”
If you want more stories like this, or if you’d like to share your thoughts about what you would have done in my situation, I’d love to hear from you. Your perspective helps these stories reach more people, so don’t be shy about commenting or sharing.
