Z is for Zachary

Z is for Zachary

I have been participating in the A to Z Challenge for the month of April and you could say I saved the best for last with Z is for Zachary.  You guessed it, Zachary is my 17 year old grandson, number 6 on the list of grandchildren.

Zachary worked with hubby and I at our store since he was a little tyke. He was such a perfect little helping, whether at work, or when he stayed at our house, he was “papa’s” little shadow.   Zachary always aimed to please everyone and in return was happy with a hug.

You might say Zachary was a daredevil. He was riding a two wheel bike at age two and a mini motorcycle at age six. He had no fear and handled his bike perfectly.

In 2010, his family relocated to Indiana from North Carolina but we made many, many trips to visit. When he turned 16 he got his first job at Sears after school, saving all his pay for a car.  It worked out great since his older sister also worked there so they could work their hours out together.  Last May an unfortunate incident happened with the family and Zac went to live with a foster family.

It was a total life style change and between the bouts of trying to figure things out and handle things basically on his own at the age of 16,  Zac kept a smile on the outside while he was fighting on the inside.

After moving to a new foster family after he turned 17, Zac got another job and bought himself a car.  He was so excited to be able to work on it and fix it up.

Hubby and I went up last Christmas and Zachary was so excited when he brought his gift in from our truck.  We got him an automotive tool set, something that would be great since he planned to attend college after high school graduation for automotive repair.   The car was short lived, wound up having too may costly problems so he reluctantly sold it to someone who was going to fix it up for a race car.

Zac has always been a great student, winning may awards throughout his school years.  He also loves to draw and he just won first place in an art contest with a poster he made for English class.  His teacher was so impressed with his MacBeth poster, he entered it and won $125.00!

We are so excited to be going to see Zachary at his high school graduation on May 28.  He has hit some bumps in the road and twists and turns but he’s using these are life learning experiences and continuing down the right path.  I am so proud of our “little Zachary” who worked so hard with us when he was young and now to see such a handsome young man getting ready to go move on to the next chapter of his life. Hubby and I love him so much and know Zachary will succeed in life.

I have enjoyed participating in the A to Z Challenge and completed a post everyday of the challenge.  If you were in this challenge, did you get it completed?  If not, it’s really no big deal, sometimes things come up and we aren’t able to do what we had planned. We have to work on things on our own schedule and not worry about deadlines, that takes the fun out of blogging at times.  It’s kind of like Zachary, things came up and his plans changed but he keeps moving along. I’m looking forward to seeing what other challenge I may stumble upon!