On this Thursday morning, the choice of what to have for breakfast at Overland Park's Cozy's Cafe, was made possible by a bigger choice two years ago, when Tommy Kennedy decided to become a Big Brother.
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"When I was younger I had great mentors and great idols in my life so I thought it was an opportunity to do that for someone else," he said..
That someone else turned out be "little" Bryce Lathrop.
"When I started I didn't have a dad so then I'm like well I should do this for kind of like a male role model to show me what it's like to be a son," said Lathrop.
"His dad's kind of been out of his life," said Kennedy. "He just didn't have that male role model in his life. Hopefully I've helped fill that void."
Through the Big Brothers Big Sisters program, he's filled it week-by-week, on the miniature golf course, on Halloween, or just by getting ice cream.
"He's pretty nice to me," said Lathrop. "He's always nice to me and we always have fun."
Kennedy believes the match has already helped his Little mature.
A quality that will help him make his own big decisions, down the road.
"We will be matched for a long time, probably until I'm finishing high school so we can keep having fun," said Lathrop.
If you're interested in the Big Brothers Big Sisters program, click here.
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Justin Wilfon can be reached at justin.wilfon@kshb.com.
