The Jar

Isaac and me at age 13 and 14

Growing up everybody needs that go to person. The person you tell your life’s dreams and aspirations. For me that person was my cousin Isaac. I had bought my map and I had my stickers, but I had nowhere to go. I had told Isaac my plans for the future- where I was going to go and what I was going to do when I got there. Isaac is a year older then me and more like a brother than a cousin. He is also the best person I will ever meet. His quiet, kind humility mirrors the God honoring, fruit bearing man our grandfather was. When I told Isaac that I wanted to travel the world one day he didn’t just listen to my dreams. He decided he was going to make my dream a reality.

The Jar

Isaac started to collect his change. Every left over cent of his hard earned money (Isaac had been a full time farmer since the age of 10) was put into a HUGE mason jar. This jar was a fixture in the corner of his room. I had seen it many times, but I had no idea what it was being saved for. He was saving it for me, for my dreams, my goals, and my map.

Six years later that jar was full and I was graduating high school. I had not forgotten my dream of travel. I had studied different cultures and fervently studied Spanish in preparation for my travel aspirations, but my map was still empty. I went to my car the day of my graduation to find Isaac’s coin jar sitting in my front seat. He had left a note that told me how much he loved me and a forty-pound jar full of coins to prove it. In the note he explained that this was money he had saved over the past six years so that I could fulfill my dream and finally put my first sticker on my map.

I was in shock. I knew what a sacrifice this was for Isaac. I knew that not every 14-year-old boy would ever consider such a selfless act let alone have the will power to carry it out over a course of six years. Thanks, gratitude, love and inexpressible awe welled up inside of me. How could I ever express the love and thankfulness for his kindness? Still to this day I am at a loss.

There was $480.00 dollars worth of coins, 2 guitar picks and 4 paperclips inside that jar. A few months later I had the opportunity to sign up for a British Literature course that would travel to England. The down payment for the trip to England was $450.00. Because of Isaac’s inexplicable generosity and loving kindness I signed up for that trip and England became the first and most precious star on my World Map.