True Grit

I will let you in on a little secret...just in case you don't already know ...Andrew Michael Stevens is one brave and determined young man! He always has been! He walked at 9 months old without ever really crawling. He would get mad at the age of 4 or 5 because he wasn't tall enough to ride the roller coasters at theme parks and when he was finally tall enough, he was right up front. He has endured years of asthma and has tried his best to keep up with everyone else with a wonderful attitude, never feeling sorry for himself. He is the first one to speak up for someone when they are being picked on or to warn them if they are about to do something dangerous. And a few weeks ago, he reminded me, yet again, just how brave and determined he really is!

His first day of sailing was a VERY windy day. The instructor went out with him on a trainer boat to teach him important things like" tacking" and " jibing" , how to put the dagger board in, etc. When they came back in, she told him he could go out by himself if he wanted to, but he might want to wait until a calmer day. Well... in true Andrew fashion, he rigged his boat and went out by himself. (His 19 year old brother even admitted that at 13 years of age on a day with wind gusts up to 25 miles per hour, he would not have gone out alone.) Off he went, he was doing great, until....he " jibed" instead of " tacking" and he flipped the boat. Now it was still March and the water was COLD which did not make him happy! However, he stayed with the boat and several other sailors sailed over to try and help him. He tried as hard as he could , but still could not get the boat back over. Finally with the help of the "committee" boat, he managed to finally get it right side up and sail back to shore. I was amazed! Other than being cold and wet, he was just fine and ready to give it another try. The next week he was right back out on the water, sailing alone, on yet another windy day with more confidence and experience...now I think that is True Grit!