I was traveling with a band I work with, The Tailgaters, in Chicago. They are the official band of the Chive! The Chive posted something on their website that I will never forget. A mother had reached out to them via social media because her 8 year old son had been bullied all year at school, he didnt have alot of friends and his parents had recently got divorced. This young boy at the age of 8 years old tried to commit suicide! Luckily he did not succeed. His mother and he are huge Chivers! If you are not familiar with The Chive it is an amazing organization with countless selfless people who all want to give back! All she asked was that people would send a card with some encouraging words as he truly feels the Chivers are his best friends and she left her address in her post. It was 30 minutes away from where we were. His birthday is July 9th. It was fate!
The band and I stopped at a local target, loaded up the car with gifts and a card and we were on our way! No one was home but Grandma. She said she had to call the mother and she welcomed us into her home. She got the mother on the phone and told her what was going on. Immediately she broke down in tears! She said she was 5 minutes away. (of course we waited) As she walked in the house she immediately started crying! She went on to tell us a more intimate side of the story.
After 30 minutes or so we all gave her a hug and left the house to take pictures outside. As we were taking the picture I looked down and saw my key! Instantly I knew this is why I bought my key so long ago! It said STRENGTH! As we were all leaving I took it from around my neck and put it in her hand, telling her the story of The Giving Keys...paying it forward and what this key meant to me. I said "I want your son to have this" as I placed it in her hand. As she wept I said "let this be a reminder to you and him to always be strong! Dont give in! and most of all to have STRENGTH "
-Zach
