A Tribute To One Of My Heroes
This week I wrote another story in The Faceless Nutcracker Series. In this book a simple toy painter becomes the book's hero. The toy painter's name is Porter.
Rewind with me down memory lane for a moment. I've suffered from severe, chronic migraines for as long as I can remember. By high school I was having five to six migraines a week. Yes, I realize there are seven days in a week, and no, I am not exaggerating. There was at least one a week that would put me to bed. There were also roughly three a month when all I could do was lay in bed and pray, plead with God to call me home. I've never been a real depressed person, yet I have probably spent more hours in my life praying to die, than some of your suicide victims.
I only dream of a simple headache. I did get a sinus headache once. I remember thinking something weird was going on, because I had this really slight pain in my head that really wasn't anything. Then I noticed that when I pressed against my cheek bone, it was tender there, and there was a pressure there. Bingo! I had a sinus headache. My next thought after realizing I had a sinus headache was "Wusses, this is all there is to a sinus headache?"
I tell you this so that you will have an idea how painful a migraine really is.
Now, Chris Porter, he was a guy I went to high school with. He was a pretty good guy. He was always nice and funny. He always seemed to be in a good mood.
I was in sixth grade. I remember, because I was in his mom's English class. I had a migraine one particular day. It wasn't bad enough yet to put me to bed, but I was cautious. You know what I mean if you have ever had a pain so painful that it literally made you vomit. I'm sure the pain was written on my face. How could it not be, right? In addition to that I was stiff as a board trying to hold my head still so that the movement wouldn't hurt, and I was using my hands to block the florescent lighting so that the light wouldn't hurt.
Chris walked in and stopped to ask me what was wrong. "Migraine," was the one word message I managed.
Chris said, "Let me show you a trick." He put pressure on my temples and moved his fingers in a slow, circular pattern.
Amazing! That pressure and slow circular movement helped to ease the pain in that moment. It only lasts while you're applying the pressure, but still, any relief from a migraine is a God send! No one had ever shown me that trick before. It is a trick that I still use today at thirty-six years old. That day Chris Porter achieved hero status in my life. He probably never thought of that day again, but it's a day I'll never forget. It hit me hard when I found out Chris had died in a fatal car crash. He was always on my mind for months after that. I was shy and never told him what that day had meant to me. He never knew that he was a hero in my eyes, but he was, is, and always will be one of my heroes.
When I started thinking about the toy painter for the book and what name I should give him, God put Chris on my mind. I wasn't sure why at first, but then the name Porter stuck in my head. It just felt right. This toy painter was going to be the hero, and Chris Porter is one of my heroes. Naming the toy painter Porter is my own tribute to Chris Porter and the huge impact he had in my life.
If you take nothing else from this blog, I want you to take this: Sometimes the most trivial things we do, can change a life forever, so take that minute to lend a hand. You may never know the impact you have, but someone will and be grateful for it.
