Even in the darkest times, when as a country we seem so divided, it’s evident that there are still hopes and love, glimmers of greatness. This story has just that, a guy called Cody Shugart and Mr. Chip the childhood neighbor.
From the very beginning, when Cody was very little, he felt a real pull to be a father, without his own father figure the road to becoming a father was more than challenging until Mr. Chip came to help!
For years Cody was quiet about the relationship he had with Mr. Chip for tens of years, then one day he posted a photo the guy and his baby boy and it absolutely went viral! But instead of being quiet about it, let it pass and fade away, Cody stood up and spoke out, to say why the photo was so important.
He said:
“So a lot of people like this picture. So I wanted to take a minute to tell the story.
Milton West was my childhood next door neighbor. I knew him as Mr. Chip. He retired from DOW chemical as an operator. He has always been there for me since I was two years old.
Growing up without a father was always difficult for me. But the Good Lord surrounded me with great men — Mr. Chip was one of them.”
“He constantly preached the value of an education, taught me how to take care of a yard. He taught me to see people for who they are, not what they look like. He taught me how to treat my mother like a saint and many other life lessons. His contributions to me becoming a good son, man, and father was huge.
I am forever grateful for God putting him in my life.
So this past May my wife and I had a little boy named Bob Wayne Shugart. When Mr. Chip and his wife Shirley saw him they fell in love with him. They babysit him sometimes and we go and visit when we can. The last time we were over there Mr. Chip said he wants to be called ‘POP.’ He says that’s his grandson.
So we had to come up with a name for his wife. We decided on Lolli!
So we tell Bob Wayne we are going to see Lolli Pop! I’m grateful that Lolli and Pop will be part of my son’s life. If he learns half of the things from Mr. Chip as I did he will become a great son, man, and father.
Every day I read something negative and how race relations are worse than ever. I disagree and I hope this is a positive loving message to many people. This is just one story in little ol’ Victoria, Texas. I’m sure there are millions of similar stories across the United States.”
Cody’s photo really is proof that as long as we are good human beings then we really can get along and love each other, hopefully, Lolli and Pop will still be around for many years to ahead, then Bob Wayne can learn as much from them as his father also did too.
When Cody posted this is circulated like wildfire, in just a few days it was like more than 367,000 times and had more than 122,000 shares too.