You would not know it now, but for the first four years of his life, Graham basically didn’t talk. He sucked his thumb and pointed at things and figured out ways to be quietly subversive (he once hid one of my dress shoes—one shoe!—for nine months).
When he was four, Graham had a pair of orange shoes he adored but that he had worn out. Lauren asked me to take him to buy a new pair of shoes. Easy to do with a four-year-old, right?
Wrong.
We went to store after store, and I grabbed every shoe with any hint of orange and asked Graham if he liked it. Thumb in his mouth, he shook his head no over and over again. Finally, in Kohl’s (our fifth store), I grew exasperated and said, “Graham, you can’t go without shoes. You have to like something!”
He looked at me, left thumb in his mouth, and with his right hand pointed to the shoes he had on.
So I picked his new shoes.
Eleven years later, he’s still himself. Last year, his principal instituted a rule at lunch where students had to ask permission before standing up. Annoyed, Graham and his friends took turns standing up, then sitting back down just as an admin got close.
Today he runs in the statewide division 2 cross country meet. We still picture Graham like so:
But in his mind, he’s been a stealth criminal since birth. Here’s his Snap story from last night (yes, readers, he races in SpongeBob socks):
Runners and athletes often tattoo on their bodies or ink on their clothes inspirational scriptures from the Bible. Graham has one picked out. I will give you the reference but not the quote because this is only what he will put on his shoes at some point, and you will get far more joy out of looking it up yourself:
Numbers 22:28-30.
His Smile Lit Up a Room and Other Things to Say at My Funeral 