A Life of Service: Part II Giving It All He learned to help people by watching his mother, but serving in the military during Vietnam taught Steve Weeks that his path for purpose lay in how he responded to his circumstances. BY TERI R. WILLIAMS | PHOTOS BY DAPHNE WALKER Imagine what it would be like to be so poor that you shined shoes as a child just to buy food for your family. Imagine getting up at daybreak to throw papers and working 40 hours a week at a grocery store while still in high school because you want to save enough money to one day go to college. Imagine the high school counselor telling you that the only reason you will ever go to college will be to visit a friend because your graduation scores are so low. Now imagine being the first in your class to earn a college degree. Imagine learning you’ve been accepted into the University of Georgia for your masters degree, the college of your dreams. Imagine going home to pack and getting a call that a draft notice has come in the mail. Instead of UGA, you’ll be packing your bags for Fort Jackson, South Carolina. That’s the part of Steve Weeks’ story that can’t simply be imagined. “Only those who were there can understand,” said Steve. “It changes your life.” It was certainly not the kind of change for which he had worked so hard to achieve. By the end of his two years of service, all Steve wanted was to put those Hometown Living At Its Best 123 © DTFOXFOTO | DREAMSTIME.COM
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