10/28/2026
💙 **The Blue Heart.** 💙
Today, you're going to meet something new in the Shed. And this one deserves its own post.
2024 was what I would have called the worst year of our lives. It felt like every minute we were putting out another fire. And in July of 2024, my oldest daughter was involved in a car accident that changed so many things for our family.
As we navigated so many unknowns, my Grandma and Grandpa Ingram began to decline. I could tell you a million stories about those two. About how my grandma loved us. About how my grandpa loved her. And how everything about the life they built revolved around their family. There was never anything in this world more important to them than loving Jesus, loving each other, loving family, and loving people. In that order.
My grandmother had been battling dementia for a couple of years. In so many ways, it felt like we had been grieving her long before we actually lost her. But my grandpa? I wasn't ready for that.
He was always the stoic one. Taking care of Grandma. Worrying about himself last. Walking every day. Loving people. Enjoying the little things.
On October 18, 2024, we lost my grandma. And the day after we laid her to rest, we lost my grandpa. I won't pretend, this time of year is really hard for me.
There was a time in my life when I would have told you I didn't think I could survive without that man. His heart was something special. He was funny, carefree, loving, generous, hardworking, and genuinely, deeply kind.
In a world where everyone seems to be in a hurry, where there never seems to be enough time, my grandpa had this incredible ability to make moments stand still. He hugged a little longer. He read as many books as we wanted. He played catch for hours. He chased every ball we hit, always with a smile on his face. And he was never, ever afraid to tell us how important we were.
He gave us something that I think so many people spend their entire lives searching for. **The feeling that we mattered. That we were loved. And that nothing in the world was more important than the people standing right in front of him.**
2024 was the hardest year of my life.
And at the very same time, on the other side of Mt. Juliet, another family was experiencing the worst year of theirs.
As their story continued to spread, I just held them close in my heart. Because I knew how quickly life could change. How one person's choices could change everything in an instant. How incredibly grateful I was that the outcome of our daughter's accident wasn't the same. And how absolutely heartbroken I was for theirs.
And as I learned more about Kyler, there was something about his story that stayed with me. He was known for his kindness. His gentle nature. The way he cared for others and the way he treated the people around him. Not because he had to, but because that was simply who he was.
And I couldn't help but think about my grandpa.
Two people from different generations, different families, different lives, but remembered for something so similar. **The way they made other people feel.** Their kindness. Their love. The way they cared about the people around them.
I think sometimes we get so caught up in everything we're trying to accomplish in this life that we forget what people will actually remember about us. It won't be how busy we were or how much we got done. It will be how we treated them. How we loved them. How we made them feel.
And Kyler deserved so many more years to keep doing exactly that.
Which brings me back to the blue heart.
💙 **The little blue knitted heart.**
The blue represents Kyler's Kindness Foundation. And the knitting? That's intentional.
Because every one of us is knitted together by our journeys. By the people we love. By the choices we make. By the moments that change us. Sometimes those choices bring something beautiful into someone else's life. And sometimes, in a single instant, they can take everything away.
Starting today, you'll find these little blue hearts in the Bread Shed. They're available with a donation to Kyler's Foundation. There will be a Venmo available in the Shed, and you can donate whatever you feel led to give.
Then take your little heart. Put it somewhere visible in your vehicle, somewhere that won't interfere with your driving. And every time you see it, I want you to remember something.
**Your job behind the wheel is to drive.**
That's it. Not to answer a text. Not to check a notification. Not to watch a TikTok. Not to see who liked your picture. Just drive.
I say something to my kids that might sound a little harsh, but I mean every word of it. Would you really want your story to end because you were watching a TikTok or sending a text message? Would you want that to be the reason someone else's story ended?
And adults, I'm talking to us, too. Some of you need to realize that those little eyes in the back seat are watching you. If your kids grow up watching you scroll through your phone while driving, what exactly do you think they're going to do when it's their turn behind the wheel?
**We cannot demand better choices from our children while modeling the very behavior we're warning them against.**
Pay attention. Care about the car in front of you. Care about the family in the car beside you. Care about the person waiting at the intersection. Care about the people who are counting on you to come home.
Because somewhere, somebody is somebody's whole world.
And I promise you, that text can wait. That notification can wait. That video can wait. But sometimes, the consequences of looking away can't be undone.
💙 **Blue hearts. Blue hearts everywhere.**
Let's fill Mt. Juliet with them. Let's start conversations. Let's hold our kids accountable. Let's hold the adults in our lives accountable. And most importantly, let's hold ourselves accountable.
Because you never know whose entire world is riding in the car next to you.
**Put the phone down. Love people enough to pay attention.**
**Your job while driving is to drive. That's it.** 💙
