by Ricky Doc Sauceda
My new career has provided many moments that were by the hands of God. I have met people from all over the world and have enjoyed their stories and have had various experiences. I meet ex-convicts, high school teens, newcomers, foreigners - just a big mix of people. The ones that really touch me are connected to my life in previous years.
I have met truck drivers for Commercial Drivers License road tests that have touched me in a very personal way. Sharing stories about life and faith in different ways. I have discussed my Daddy's years behind the wheel and how he was just a good man to know as a friend. Today I met a man who knows the owner of the company my Daddy drove for. His brother owns a charter fishing boat and my daddy's old boss is a regular customer - my Daddy went on a couple of trips with him.
That man my Daddy worked for is Larry Laird. He sponsored me in my senior year at Channelview High School to go to Washington D.C. for a senior trip with Close Up Foundation. Larry offered to pay my way through college as long as I studied Engineering - I of course would have to work for him after finishing. I turned the offer down because I am poor at advanced math - I am just dumb when it comes to math. Now, I realize I should have sought tutoring and anything else it would have taken to get that education.
Larry loved my Daddy...he valued him highly as an employee and as a man. On the job, my Daddy was his most reliable employee. When my parents split up after my seventh grade year, Larry helped him out. Daddy always spoke well of him.
God works in mysterious ways indeed.