“You’re not going to have time to go to your apartment and change clothes, Sir,” the security man said.
“I know,” Jacobs replied. “Too high profile in the uniform?”
“Under the circumstances, I think it will be okay,” he replied.
“Then let’s roll.”
Jacobs reviewed some of the reports in his briefcase on the long ride out into the hills of Virginia. Once finished with that task, he put the papers away and watched the rolling green countryside drift by. It had been a long journey getting to where he was now. He missed the autonomy of being a submarine captain. His new job was much more demanding but at least it came with people who were experienced and who had helped him adapt to the new world in which he had been placed. Life and death decisions had become a daily occurrence but it wasn’t on such a personal level as it had been aboard the Massachusetts. He was now much more aware of what was going on behind the scenes in the complex machinations of world politics and international relations.
China had taken the losses from the earthquake very hard. The damage to the Pacific Northwest had been very hard, as well. Publically, China had not mentioned the loss of the two Frigates or the submarine. Political relations between the U.S. and China had been frozen for most of the last year, but there were small signs of a potential thaw. Each side had carefully backed away from what could have turned into a full scale nuclear war.
“Almost there, Sir,” his limo driver said as they turned off the main highway following a curving two-lane road that headed gently up hill. He smiled with bittersweet memories as they turned off on to a gravel road and passed the large wooden sign held in place by a stout log frame.
THE TIFFANY GRIMES
CALL TO COURAGE CAMP
The gravel road led through the deeply wooded area for half a mile before opening into a large grassy section with log cabins and teenaged children running around. The limo pulled up to the large log construction building where it stopped. He didn’t wait for the driver to open the door. He got out and eagerly climbed up the stairs to the large porch where she was waiting.
“Joyce, it’s so good to see you again,” he said as his security man closed in behind him.
“Mmm, mmm, don’t we look spiffy today,” she replied.
“Sorry, didn’t have time to change.”
“That’s fine, Paul, I’m just happy to have you here,” Joyce Grimes said. “I want you to see what you created.”
“It wouldn’t have happened without your dedication and your vision,” he replied. “You put the rest of your life on hold to make this happen.”
She chuckled. “My life’s not on hold, Paul, this project has given my life a new meaning. It has filled a void that could have consumed what was left of my life. Instead of grief, there is laughter and joy, and more importantly there is hope and courage.” She led him across the long porch, down another set of steps and across the lush green grass. “This is where the running course begins. There are three levels of difficulty, which brings us to the obstacle course over here.”
Admiral Jacobs looked at the courses as memories of Annapolis, and his days at the Naval Academy came back to him. “You don’t think it’s too much?”
“No,” she replied. “The kids enjoy the challenges. The special area is over here.” She led him to the right for a hundred feet where four towers stood. Each tower had a circular stairway inside. The first two towers had a sixty-foot-long rope bridge, strung between them, twenty feet above the grass below. On each side of the rope bridge two poles stood with a thick steel cable running between them, sliding pulleys mounted on each side of the bridge. The rope bridge had a two-inch-thick rope as the foot section of the bridge with one-inch-thick ropes for the hand holds on each side. Half-inch ropes tied the hand holds to the foot rope at two-foot intervals.
“No one goes on the rope bridge or the other challenges without a safety harness, which is hooked to each of the safety lines running along the length of the challenges,” she explained. “There’s no danger of anyone falling and getting hurt. Even with all of the safety equipment, it’s amazing how much courage it takes to walk across that bridge. I’ve done it myself; it’s a spooky experience.” The third tower had a twenty-foot-high rock climb constructed on the wide face of the tower with similar poles for the safety lines.
“You wouldn’t believe how this is changing the lives of so many people, Paul. I get the biggest kick out of the helicopter moms who spend their lives hovering over their children. They’re horrified watching their child walk across the rope bridge or climb the rock wall. The kids love every minute of it. You don’t protect your child by hovering over him or her and controlling everything he or she does. You protect him or her by teaching your child to have the courage and inner strength to take life on head first. That’s what they learn here.
“The hardest part isn’t getting the kids to do the challenges — it’s getting the parents to do them. You wouldn’t believe the difference in attitude toward life when the whole family completes all of the challenges.” Behind the rock climb were thirteen poles a little more than a foot in diameter and twenty feet above the ground placed two feet apart with the usual safety lines along the sides. “Once they complete the rock climb they walk from pole top to pole top, again all in safety harnesses,” she added. “Once across the pole walk to the final tower, they have a simulated parachute jump down into the sand pit. That completes their Call to Courage.”
“It looks so much larger in real life than it did on the drawings,” Jacobs said.
Just then a group of teens, parents and adult guides came running up to the towers. Admiral Jacobs and Joyce Grimes watched as the kids were harnessed, clipped to the safety lines and eagerly entered the challenges. Jacobs smiled as the guides encouraged the parents to participate in the challenges. Some joined in, others just watched as their children had the time of their lives finishing the Call to Courage Course.
“None of this would have happened without you buying the land and paying for the construction of the camp,” Joyce said.
“Well, like I said in the beginning, I make good money in the Navy and I don’t have a family, so…”
Joyce smiled. “You do have a family,” she said. “In a very real way these are your children and your family. They have a new lease on life because of your investment. They are stronger and more courageous because of you. They are embracing life and its challenges because of you, and don’t you ever forget that.”
Admiral Jacobs felt a little embarrassed by the praise. “This was your vision, Joyce. I’m just glad I was able to help make it happen.”
“Don’t get me wrong,” she said. “I love being the administrator for this program. I am growing through the speaking engagements that you organize and the fundraisers you put on. This has been my own Call to Courage, and I’m thrilled to be able to honor my daughter with this camp. Because of your efforts, we have enough funds to keep this camp going for the next ten years, and there’s more money flowing in every week.”
“Well,” he said quietly, “this camp is helping me get through some very tough days and nights. We make a good team.”
“Yes we do,” Joyce replied. “Look, I know you have to deal with some of the worst of humanity in your job at the Pentagon, but this camp can let you enjoy some of the best of humanity as these kids and some of their parents rise to be better people in a world that can really use their help.”
“Yes,” Jacobs replied, watching the first child start out on the pole walk. “It does help.” He stood there watching with a huge grin on his face as the young girl leaped gleefully from one pole to another. He felt truly happy for the first time in a very long time. He couldn’t remember how long it had been, but for now, just being happy was more than enough.