To Tom Snyder and his wife, Paul is just one of the family. The affable 15-year-old even went on the recent Snyder family vacation … to Hawaii.

"We go on a vacation every year," Snyder said. "This year, we asked Paul to go along."

Snyder, his wife and Paul did typical tourist activities: snorkeling, hiking and parasailing.

They also attended the Pro Bowl game. It's a vacation they recall with big smiles and plenty of pictures. But it's really only one of many memories they have together.

Snyder and Paul met on June 21, 2004, as part of the Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Black Hills program in Rapid City.

Snyder, whose children and stepchildren are grown, said a co-worker encouraged him to look into the program, telling him he would be a good mentor.

Paul, only 12 at the time, lost his mother in a car accident when he was 7. His two sisters were already involved in the Big Brothers Big Sisters program, and he wanted to join them.

That's how Paul and Snyder came to be paired together, but the friendship and mentorship that's evolved since is something above and beyond the Big Brothers Big Sisters program.

"I really had no expectations going into this, but it's turned out really well," Snyder said.

Though they aren't required to meet every week, the pair does. They go to movies, go on hikes, attend monster truck rallies, and sometimes they just hang out.

Once in a while, Snyder helps Paul with his homework.

Snyder has camped with Paul's entire family and, often, Snyder's wife, Sheila Troxel Snyder, does things with Paul and Paul's sisters.

It's a relationship that's become so natural that the two don't think much about it any more.

"He's like a part of the family," Snyder says. "And he'll always be a part of the family."