Coles Family: It all begins with an idea. Maybe he wanted to launch a business … Maybe, there were complicated circumstances at home that made leaving a necessity … Maybe, it was just as simple as wanting to turn himself into something different, something more.

Whatever it was, there was a pull toward independence and a drive to leave home at an early age. Only 15 years old, he made a decision that must have taken a lot of confidence or recklessness.

From Tennessee, he made his way to Arkansas, 281 miles away from home, travelled through Kentucky and reached Ohio. He braved a whole new world and planted seeds that birthed or shaped all of us.

He tended each flower, even those he hadn’t planted, and embraced each vine though they bloomed differently. He found beauty in each. Thank God — all of us need rooting and sustaining.