This picture was taken on Rachel’s birthday, which we celebrated with Josiah and Alex. We listened to the live band at Looney’s, danced a little and then went outside for some fresh air, which is where we met Kicks. He was a gentle, soft spoken man in his 20’s.
“Do you want to hear some rhymes?” he asked.
“Sure,” Rachel smiled and we gathered around him.
Kicks was talented! He had a Spotify channel and he shared his account with us. Kicks was on his own and asked if he could hang out with us the rest of the night.
“I don’t know you!” Rachel said, shaking her head.
“Oh, I completely understand,” Kicks stumbled.
Rachel burst out laughing. “I’m just joking! Of course you can hang out with us!”
After Looneys, we had a late night meal at IHOP and we sang “Happy Birthday” as Rachel ate a birthday pancake. Kicks sang us more rhymes and we laughed and told stories until the early morning.
I often think back to Rachel’s kindness that night; without hesitation, she welcomed Kicks into our circle of friends. We never saw him again but we had special memories from that birthday.
A couple years later, a former student shared a Facebook post about a local man who had lost his life to an overdose.
It was Kicks.
*Proverbs 31:26*
“She opens her mouth with wisdom, and the teaching of kindness is on her tongue.”
The Claudia Brown 
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