The Kid Who Got Two Mentions And A Wave From The White House

Class of 2010.

Mound Westonka High.

Two mentions in the yearbook.

Everyone knew my name.

I barely knew how to use it.

Then I flew.

Omaha Beach, June 6, 1944.

Great-Uncle Frank – combat engineer –

stormed with a shovel instead of a rifle,

cut wire, built roads, saved lives.

I stood on that same sand last summer.

Hamburg dock, 1908.

Great-Grandma Margaret –

left with one suitcase, no English, no fear.

Vienna street, 1890.

Great-Grandma Mary –

eight years old, selling papers,

dreaming in two languages.

I walked every step they walked.

And the kid who only showed up twice

in two-hundred pages

realized —

the world doesn’t need volume.

It needs voice.

January 20, 2025.

Capital One Arena.

Twenty thousand strangers.

I shouted.

“We love you, Mr. President.”

Trump pointed.

Melania waved.

Two letters later,

one in the National Archives.

Shy boy.

Big country.

One moment.

Now I’m the same kid,

but the fork’s out,

the porch light’s on.

If loving America this loud

can get the White House to turn around —

you never know

what quiet love

can open.

If I can love one country so hard

she sends letters,

imagine

when I meet

the right one.

Tuesday’s still open. 🇺🇸