When Beau Biden, the son of Vice President Joe Biden, died at the end of May, the nation, with the possible exception of Ted Cruz, mourned his loss.
This week, though, a man named Skip Brooks made one of the most touching gestures of all. First, Brooks—a former prosecutor in Delaware who had a speech impediment as a kid—tweeted this.
On a 8th field trip to DC, we had a Q&A with @VP Joe Biden. I got this letter a week later. It still inspires me. pic.twitter.com/3YHcguj2Bo
— Branden Brooks, Esq. (スキップ) (@SkipBrooks9) July 1, 2015
As the note from Biden reads,
Dear Brandon,
It was a pleasure meeting you yesterday. You are a fine — bright — young man with a great future ahead of you if you continue to work hard. Remember what I told you about stuttering. You can beat it just like I did. When you do, you will be a stronger man for having won. Also remember, every time you are tempted to make fun of someone with a problem, how it feels when you are made fun of. Treat everyone with respect and you will be respected yourself.
Your friend, Joe Biden
Brooks went on to write that after Biden noticed that the eighth-grader had a stutter, he took him aside and told the youngster that Biden never let his own stutter interfere with his life goals and that he would go out of his way to speak in public or act in plays in order to force himself to overcome his impediment.
.@vp Biden said that I have something important to say and others will wait to hear it. This moment changed everything for me. 3/3
— Branden Brooks, Esq. (スキップ) (@SkipBrooks9) July 1, 2015
And more proof that this exchange actually happened.
8th grade pic with @VP Biden. I'm wearing a Blue/Yellow/Orange Cross Colours shirt. Photo credit: @fishlessfshrman pic.twitter.com/JWJA7mhFp8
— Branden Brooks, Esq. (スキップ) (@SkipBrooks9) July 2, 2015
At the time, Biden was a U.S. senator from Delaware, and the gesture he made—and the time it took him to write the letter—is heartwarming. But the story gets better.
Biden, or whomever runs Biden’s Twitter account, noticed Brooks’s tweet and responded in kind.
.@SkipBrooks9 And it's still true today, my friend. Treat everyone with respect and you will be respected yourself.
— VP Biden (Archived) (@VP44) July 1, 2015
And then, the heartwarming conclusion.
@VP Took your advice to heart and years later Beau swore me in as a prosecutor. pic.twitter.com/jVUEcU54GW
— Branden Brooks, Esq. (スキップ) (@SkipBrooks9) July 1, 2015
But these kinds of tales aren’t necessarily so rare for Biden and his former First State constituents. As Brooks told the Daily Mail, “In Delaware, everybody has a Joe Biden story.”
Photo via Skip Brooks/Twitter