Byron stumbled into being a Big Brother.  He wanted to get involved in personally helping a young person succeed.  So he came to the best place he could think of, Big Brothers Big Sisters (but you knew that) and signed up.  Byron wound up being matched with Edward as part of Kansas Big Brothers Big Sisters site-based mentoring program.  And that led to Byron teaching Edward to Blow It Up (as odd as that sounds for Big Brothers Big Sisters activity).

After a few challenging months ... Bryon wanted to focus on books while Edward really was more interested in doing other things ... they worked it all out.  Guess what?  You can read books and have fun at the same time.  Wow.  Soon they were reading books of Edward’s choice and playing checkers or chess.  Can you picture that?  Then Edward brought Byron around to the idea that just having fun is okay.  So they began meeting over lunch to hang out and talk and share stories.  They both grew from knowing each other.  Before they knew it, they clicked, wanted to expand their time together and switched to a community-based program.

Byron is quite the guy.  Turns out he has a family of his own that includes three young kids.  So he figures he needs to introduce his Little to his family (which is a very nice thing to do for all concerned).  And they all get along famously.  It’s wonderful to see ... our eyes tear up just thinking about it.  They go bowling and spend time at the pool.  They’re having a fantastic time together.

Before he met Byron, Edward used to walk into a room staring at the floor.  He didn’t say hello or even look up.  But now he strolls into a room full of confidence.  He looks at you, smiles, grabs your hand (ouch!), gives it a vigorous shake, and leads with a hearty hello.  What a difference a great Big can make when paired with a Little needing some support to grow and prosper.

Oh, yes, that Blow It Up thing.  You remember that Byron has some kids.  One of them is named Ian.  Ian strongly connected with Edward.  So Byron, being not only a wonderful Big and father but also a very clever fellow, decided that they needed something special to formalize their friendship.  So he shared his secret handshake with them! That’s right, The Secret Handshake.  We have no idea what this is (after all, it is The Secret Handshake) but we hear it’s hilarious and, yup, it’s called Blow It Up.

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