The following excerpt is from our fourth anthology, Hilton Head Island: Time and Tide, and written by Carol Linneman.

Be sure to read her notes that follow the excerpt:

“He came a lot…When it was hot, even though I was all sweaty, he took me in his fancy convertible for ice cream!…Lots of times we just sat on a bench and talked.”

“I felt pretty cool, trying to act like some of the kids at school. But, Mr. Tim, the teen coordinator, stopped me and made me pull up my pants. The way he talked to me made me mad, so the next day I tried it again! That really got me far! I had to appear with my mama in Teen Court. Mama was not happy with me!”

Notes From the Author

In writing “The Gift of a Mentor,” my goal was to showcase the need for and importance of people who are willing to invest in a young person’s life. Many of our youth need nurturing that comes from someone outside of their families.

The story is fiction, based on a compilation of actual events. The mentors are real people (names have been changed) living in our community, who have successfully guided youth in finding firm ground on which to build their lives.

Mentoring is accomplished in different ways, something not everyone realizes. In the story, the main mentor spent years of his life with one child, while the other mentor interacted with groups of youth on a daily basis as part of an organized program. All it takes is heart and a little time—a gift given and a gift received.