My heart was stopped by nothing more than the time a young child of six years old grabbed my vest in the aisle of Walmart and requested me to act as if I were her father. I have witnessed horrific acts of brutality that most people are unable to fathom. Fearful, trembling, and battered, she was shivering.
As she muttered that her biological father had caused her mother such severe pain that “she wouldn’t wake up,” I looked up and saw him, with a red face, searching the aisles, ready to grab her the moment he saw her. I moved in between them, clothed in leather and covered with scars, and informed him that we would be contacting the police. This was a clear demonstration of who he was, as he dashed for the door.
Quickly come the police. I was the one Addison clung to like her life depended on it, and to tell you the truth, it did. Officers arrived at the address she provided me with and discovered her mother barely alive. When Child Protective Services attempted to take Addison, she reacted with such a strong fright that they asked her if she would rather stick with me.
As she sobbed into my shirt, she nodded her head. Consequently, I brought her back to my house. It was during those first few nights that she experienced a lot of trembling and nightmares, but she gradually started to believe that she was safe. She was protected in a place that was run by an elderly motorcyclist who would protect her with his life.
When we went to see her mother in the hospital during the next few weeks, she expressed her gratitude to me with tears in her eyes each time. The truth was revealed to her: her daughter had rescued herself by making the decision to flee. Addison resumed her normal behaviors, including eating, sleeping, and smiling.
This was the first night that she slept through the entire night, and it was the night that her father was eventually apprehended and jailed. She began referring to me as “Grandpa Bear,” and she stated that I was the only adult male who did not manage to frighten her. Moreover, in a peculiar and unanticipated manner, she turned out to be the family that I was unaware I still required.
It has been seven years since… Right now, Addison is thirteen years old, and she is intelligent, courageous, and has a dream of becoming a police officer. Her mother has remarried a kind-hearted man who loves her as much as he loves his kids. They continue to come see me once a month.
And every time she gives me a hug, I am reminded of that day in Walmart, when a young girl who was terrified chose the most terrifying man in the aisle and found the safest place she could possibly land. Because of her efforts to save her, my life now has a significance that I was unaware I was lacking.
