This is Jaden.
He is 5 years old.
His grandmother and mom live across the street from me. Over the past year and a half Chumley Construction has been rebuilding fences throughout our community, and he has watched as the big trucks delivering materials go rolling by, and he has watched from a distance as our crew works digging holes, setting posts, and nailing up cedar pickets. This past month he was bold enough to ring my door bell and ask, ” Hey Joe, can I help build the fence next time?”
Looking down at this 5 year old, I realized it wasn’t just “building a fence” that he was interested in. Jaden needed a friend. His good buddy down the road just moved away; I had watched him wave good bye to him the last time he was here. So I told Jaden that he absolutely could help clean up some things when we needed to, shovel some dirt around here and there…things a 5 year old is more than happy to do.
“Today is a good day.”
”I’m getting to do cool stuff.”
“I’m a winner, not a loser.”
“I’m the head and not the tail.”
“I’m above and never below.”
“I’m smart.”
“I work hard.”
“I’m going good places and doing good things.”
He was ready everyday for work
and he would often say,
“This is the best day of my life, I LOVE
building fences!”
Friday of last week, at 4:30, he said,” Okay Joe, I’m going to take the rest of the day off.”
Obviously it was nearly quitting time for us too, but I just smiled and said, “Okay Jaden, see you tomorrow!”
I then looked at my worker Duncan and he asked me, “How long until Jaden comes back?”
“I give him 15 minutes tops.”
…It wasn’t but 10 minutes and Jaden was walking down the hill yelling out, “I was just kidding guys, I just needed a snack!”
Today was the last day of the job and I told him I had something extra special for his hard work. As you can see in the album we posted, “A Friend for Life,” it was an achievement award for his hard work and dedication. He literally was speechless, a few tears welled up in my eyes and I just told him how proud I was of him. I asked him what his favorite part of the whole job was and he said simply, “Riding in your truck on our way home and talking.” (Keep in mind the ride to my house was about 75 yards).
I have made a friend for life. It’s amazing what a little time, an $8 nail bag, and some time on the computer making a special award can do for somebody who just needed to know he was loved. At Chumley Construction we value our families, friends, employees, clients, and yes, even our neighbors too. I hope this story touches your heart, it sure did touch mine.
