Fate is a fickle mistress, and one who seems to choose on a whim how we play out our lives.
If you believe there’s an all-powerful force orchestrating the ongoings of the world then it’s been made clear by now that we’re not to question the reasoning. Somethings, try as we might, we cannot predict and can’t properly understand.
One man in particular knows just how strange it can be to feel that you’re being guided by something more than your own instinct. One day, he approached a scarred teen in a parking lot, only to realize who he was and stop dead in his tracks …
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10218236138285369&set=a.1544792310224&type=3&theater
Chris Thorp has worked as the Co-Program Manager of Operation Enduring Warrior-Task Force Sentinel. In his duties, he was tasked with reaching out to wounded veterans and former soldiers all over the country. It was his job to help rehabilitate them, and give them support as they returned to mainstream society.
It should go without saying that he saw many things as part of his job, but perhaps few surprised him as much as a young man he saw one day in a car park. Chris had collected his wife from work and was taking her to an auto-repair shop to pick up her car. He spotted a young man in the parking lot, however, with burns scars on his face and body.
Chris knew he recognized the man, only he couldn’t recall exactly where from. Then, all of a sudden, he summoned a memory. “I wonder if that’s him…” he said aloud.
He proceeded to drop his wife off at the repair shop, but then parked his own vehicle so he could talk to the young man.
On approach his suspicions were confirmed. He knew the young man, though it had been 13 long years since he had seen him. The last time the two had met the man was but a toddler of around four, and had been in a fiery car wreck.
Chris began by asking the young man: “Is your name Christian?”
The man replied yes, forcing the hairs on Chris’ arms to raise. Chris asked some further questions just to be sure, but it transpired that Christian was indeed the boy he had met all those years ago.
It was now time for Chris to identify himself. He told Christian he was one of the people who had pulled him out of the burning car when he was little. He and a group of others had wrenched the car door open, beat the flames back with their jackets, and hauled Christian to safety.
The reunion
Chris and Christian spoke in the parking lot, telling one another about their lives and discussing the miracle of the encounter in depth. Then Chris went back to his vehicle and retrieved something from his glove compartment.
It was a Gold Medal of Valor, which he’d been awarded after saving Christian from the car. He handed it over to the young man, telling him he was a Warrior, and braver than he could ever hope to be.
Chris recounted the event on his Facebook page, stating: “He accepted it, and in a lot of ways I realized I had been merely it’s Keeper, until the time came for him to take possession. I still don’t know how I feel. Him and his Family are very much a part of me. A part of me has come home, and at the same moment a huge weight has been lifted from my heart. Well, Higher Power… If you are there. Thank You.”
https://www.facebook.com/honorguard2016/posts/10218286593066707
Sometimes in life you just have to accept that things will happen that are absolutely out of your control. Whether that’s down to pure coincidence or the work of a higher power, it’s impossible to know for sure. And yet it’s just this undeniable rhythm of life that provides beautiful moments to counter the bad ones.
Please share this article to praise Chris and Christian for their incredible bravery!
