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This is such a great day! Thank you so much for honoring me this afternoon with the Boy Scout Award for Bravery. I did not know what it meant to be brave until now. For a six-year-old boy to stand up here in front of all of you—now that’s brave.

When my mom and I talked about bravery the other day, a few thoughts came to my mind. To me, bravery is:

Like a tiny fish in a big blue sea or a birdie learning to fly

Being strong even when it hurts

Telling you how I feel deep in my heart

Watching kids run and play and telling them, “Great job”

Stretching my arms and moving my head all by myself

Catching my breath

I’m very happy to be Hunter James Kelly. Although I am unable to do a lot of things, I am able to do what is most important—and that is to love. God is so good to me. He blessed me with a very important mission here on earth, and all of you are helping me to achieve it. Hunter’s Hope is so special to my family and me. You all have been so generous in helping us to raise awareness and funds to help my friends with this terrible disease. And believe me, this disease is awful.

But more important than all of that, God asked me to teach all of you about Him and His amazing love for all of us. Sometimes we get carried away with the things of this world that really don’t matter, when all that really matters is that we fulfill the purpose for which God created each one of us. My purpose is to show all of you that God’s love is the best, and that prayer really can move mountains and give strength to the weak and hope to those who have none.

You see, it’s not about me; it’s all about Him. I love being a six-year-old boy, but I love being God’s little warrior even more. I’m thankful for God and all the people that love me and help me to be brave. Please keep me in your prayers, and thank you again for this very special honor.

There wasn’t a dry eye in the room that day. What a precious memory. A memory birthed from a sticker on a therapy vest.

I was surrounded by such reminders. But regardless of how wonderful a memory might be, each one also had the power to immobilize me. Should I give away some of the sources of those memories to avoid the emotional pain? It was just so hard to make decisions about anything. I felt paralyzed.

Laundry could wait.

The dishes could wait.

Quiet time could wait.

My life could wait.

Chapter 15

Unexpected Grace

The day after Hunter’s funeral I dusted off a copy of Randy Alcorn’s Heaven—a book I had barely started reading months before Hunter died. I had to get out of the house, away from what life was starting to become without Hunter, so I threw my book in a backpack and headed to my mom and dad’s house. Erin and Camryn were busy playing with friends, and that made it easier for me to leave them at home with Jim.

In my grief, I needed to be near where my boy was during the last moments of his life. I needed to touch the soft sheets he’d last slept in while they were still exactly as he’d left them. The young life that had captivated and consumed my every minute and my every thought was gone. I didn’t know what to do with myself.

As I traveled the same route I always did to my parents’ home, the same route that led to the hospital where Hunter had died, I tried desperately to make sense out of what had happened. So many questions were invading my mind. I wanted to know why God had allowed Hunter to take his last breath in my mother’s arms instead of mine. Was He mad at me? Did He forget that I had prayed many times to be the one? If I had been there at my parents’ house that morning, would Hunter still be alive?

I cried and tried to take in the beauty of the day as I drove. The sky was very blue, with a few puffy clouds scattered here and there. The sun was bright yet it wasn’t hot. There was a nice cool breeze, too. It was a perfect day; just like the day Hunter took his last breath.

When I arrived in Attica I stopped by the cemetery before going on to my parents’ house. The plot of land where Hunter’s body was buried is right next to