A children’s book and an old Boy Scout compass become unlikely guides, reminding me that kindness, once given, has a way of pointing us home.

A mother can have a great impact on what makes a young man tick. Hannah Spenner, a mental health writer, says a mother influences a person's attachment style, their emotional regulation, empathy, cognitive development and social skills. There is the helicopter mom, the cool mom, the crunchy mom, the workout mom, the absent mom, the zen mom to name a few according to a google search about mom types. How a mom impacts a son might be different than how a mom impacts a daughter.

He picked up his plate and with deference to the others said, “I’m going to eat with my friend.” The mostly white-haired men at his table nodded and said, “Thanks for coming, Coach. Good to see you.” All eyes followed him across the room as he sat down in the seat next to me. It was somewhere in the late 1980’s. We were at a restaurant on Camelback Road in Phoenix and at an intra Kiwanis club luncheon. The room settled after the President of my club tapped his spoon lightly