What I Learned When Mr. Andi Was Gifted a New Kayak for Christmas

At the beginning of the summer of 2016, Mr. Andi sold his boat, replacing it with three kayaks – one for me, one for Sarah Kate, and one for the boys (and Gabi). Although Sarah Kate and I have used ours, the real workhorse was Mr. Andi’s kayak – a tandem sit-on-top made for fishing. Sure, he enjoys the family outings on the water, but his first love is fishing out of that kayak.

Each fall, he travels to Pointe Aux Chene, Louisiana, for a long weekend fishing trip with his uncle and some friends. His uncle brings a boat for getting them around to different spots quickly, but they also take the kayak because it can get into some shallows the boat can’t reach. Pointe Aux Chene is about a four-hour drive from Mayberry and Mr. Andi packs his things after work, grabs a few hours of sleep, and leaves in time to start fishing just after sunrise.

This year, when he arrived at the marina, his kayak wasn’t on the back of his truck. Somewhere along the way the bracket on the strap he had used to tie it down had broken. Through the combined magic of some good people and social media, we learned that someone had spotted it on the side of the road at a traffic light, but apparently a different someone had also spotted it and decided to pick it up and take it home, because when he got back to that spot it was gone.

Mr. Andi drove all the way back home without making a single cast into the water or spending a single night in Pointe Aux Chene. He was devastated and replacing it simply wasn’t in the budget. 

About a week and a half later, I got a call from Joe, one of Mr. Andi’s friends. Joe told me he had reached out to Jackson Kayak – the maker of the lost kayak, a Big Tuna – to see if they might be willing to offer him one at a discount or help find a used one that we could afford.

I’m not sure exactly what Joe said to them – he gave me a recap of the conversation that included a few vague points about what a “great guy” Mr. Andi is and about him loving to take Nathan fishing – but whatever it was, Jackson decided to go way above and beyond Joe’s request: they decided to send Mr. Andi a new kayak.

Joe and I spent weeks conspiring to keep the kayak a secret, and I was a nervous wreck the whole weekend before Christmas. During all those weeks I simply couldn’t believe that Joe had convinced Jackson to give Mr. Andi a brand new one (I paid only the freight cost to get it here), and I was so grateful – and still am – that he has a friend like Joe who cares about him.

At long last on Christmas morning, Mr. Andi got a big surprise:

But the one who may have been the most surprised was me.

Jackson makes and sells a lot of kayaks, but they are sold through small specialty dealers, not big box stores, because they pride themselves on quality craftsmanship and attention to detail (one of the main reasons Mr. Andi chose his first Jackson Big Tuna). But after the big Christmas surprise, we learned something more about Jackson: they didn’t just have someone in their marketing department decide to send Mr. Andi a kayak to help their image; their employees on the factory floor were in on the surprise, too – they wanted to help my husband, a stranger, and they donated overtime during the busy holiday season to build the kayak just for him.

I shared the video above on my personal Facebook profile and the response was overwhelming. Hundreds of people commented, many shared it with their friends, and quite a few told me that they cried watching it. Their reactions took me by surprise. Yes, I cried, but I’m married to Mr. Andi so I know how much it meant to him – I didn’t expect so many others, especially strangers or mere acquaintances, to feel so strongly about this nice thing that a good friend and a generous company did for my husband. It got me to thinking.

People view our family a lot differently from how we view ourselves.

It’s a running joke in our house that we’re the neighborhood rednecks. I am not above going through the car line in my pajamas. Nathan frequently does not wear pants in the house (and, occasionally, outside it). Our carpet has multiple stains because Sarah Kate is continually spilling stuff on the floor (I know – you would think the three dogs and the small boy would be the problem. Go figure). We sometimes have ridiculously high expectations for the kids while at other times we have none. We do go to Mass every week – even on vacation – but sometimes we complain about it.

We are frequently unworthy of emulation, that’s for sure.

Yes, we make a lot of sacrifices for our kids, and we put a lot of time and effort into helping them reach their potential, but lots of parents do those things.

Yes, we do spend money (and time) on a lot of things that most families don’t have to worry about, and that means we don’t always have the money (or time) available for other things we want to have or do, but if we didn’t have three dogs and eat Chick-fil-A for breakfast every Saturday morning, we could spend that money on other things, too. 

Yes, it’s often hard to sit by and watch our kids struggle to do things that come easily to others, but over the years I’ve become grateful for the struggles because they make us – all four of us – better people.

We’re just doing our best, trying to be faithful with the gifts God has given us and not ask Him too many questions because we know He has a plan for this redneck, dog-loving, Chick-fil-A-eating family of ours.

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In the coming months, I’ll be making some changes here at Bringing the Sunshine. I still plan to write about the kids, disability, and faith, but as our family life has evolved I’ve found that it’s time for this space to evolve, as well. Until then, I’d love for you to tell me what’s on your mind, what you like (or don’t) about this space, and how I can help you. Shoot me a message to let me know your thoughts, and if you want to make sure to keep up-to-date on what’s happening, subscribe to my email list.