Glad To Be Here: Reflections from Fort Benning

This year as we gather for Thanksgiving, I find myself grateful for a moment of serendipity my family and I experienced nearly a decade ago when we met a teenager who later became a member of our family.

In equal measure, I am thankful for the flipside of serendipity. If one side is chance, the other is commitment. My wife Judy and I see both in this young man, our son Jorge, who just graduated at Fort Benning in Georgia from the first phase of Basic Training as a new enlistee in the U.S. Army.

Commitment, of course, takes place over time. As Jorge pointed out in conversation with Judy as they were talking about his extended college career, “Your timeline is not necessarily God’s timeline.” Graduations will get you thinking like that. Am I behind? Am I ahead? What’s next, and what’s realistic? God’s timeline is not ours. It’s often different entirely.

Time is what we make of it, and Jorge is making the most of his. Our journey together began a decade ago, as I mentioned earlier. That was a moment of true serendipity—an unexpected gift, the first blessing of many to come after a middle school math teacher drew up a seating chart and placed Jorge in the desk behind our daughter Karissa.

Then, as we got to know Jorge and in time we became his legal guardians, everything that followed has been about commitment, especially on Jorge’s part as he’s worked to keep growing academically, physically and as a leader. In this year alone, Jorge has celebrated two graduations, the first from Arizona State University.

At his most recent graduation at Fort Benning, we enjoyed another serendipitous moment. Hawthorne “Peet” Proctor was able be there. He served nearly 35 years in the U.S. Army, retiring as Major General. Today, he’s a director on our board at SpartanNash, and over the past year he generously mentored Jorge by text leading up to Jorge’s enlistment. Peet took the time to travel to Fort Benning, where he met Jorge in person for the first time. We deeply appreciate the insights and goodwill Peet offered to Jorge, not to mention the many reassurances he extended to two nervous first-time military parents.

In this season of giving thanks, with Jorge showing us how to take big steps forward and Peet helping guide a young soldier’s introduction to the military, I can say with certainty that I am glad to be here. “Here” is where I am now. This approach to gratitude is something I brought up during Jorge and Karissa’s college graduation, relaying the wisdom my friend John Foley learned as a pilot in the Blue Angels. It’s how they start and end missions.

This year, I’m committing myself to staying thankful in all the places I’m “here,” and wherever that may be, I further intend to be ready to act on moments of serendipity.

Happy Thanksgiving to you and your family. On a day devoted to exploring, identifying and sharing gratitude, celebrate the start of the holiday season by finding gratitude on the many paths our lives open before us.