A Servant's Heart

My foster dad passed away in his sleep on Monday at age 75. I'm catching the red-eye out of Lewiston to Louisville, KY tonight to pay my respects to someone I only lived with for 18 months, but who helped fill a very empty hole in my heart when I came to his family at age 16 with nowhere left to go. He and his wife became foster parents just for me. If that doesn't make you feel special when you're a foster kid who's been told by her social worker that there are no families who want to take you in, I don't know what else would.

He was an amazingly gifted mechanic who fixed airplanes and taught others to do the same. He worked for Flying Tigers and UPS, and they would sometimes fly him half-way around the world to fix an airplane that nobody else could. He had the heart of a servant; he commuted several hours a day in awful traffic to LAX and back, and still managed to fix my car or someone else's, not to mention leaky faucets and bikes and toys and anything else that needed fixing, before he'd get 5-6 hours of sleep and be ready to do it all over again.

He spent 60 years with his sweetheart, DeAnn, who mirrored his servant's heart perfectly. He was mischievous and a great tease; he had 50+ grandkids, and called them all "George." He taught me how to fix a flat and use a tire gauge and change the oil and check the fluid levels and clean the battery terminals in my car so I wouldn't be a helpless female. He was as honest and dependable as the day is long, and the world needs more like him.

I can't say as I'll ever be as patient or kind or giving, but I'm grateful to have had his influence in my life. Here he is at my wedding with his wife DeAnn (who looks as young as I did at age 22, even after having 10 kids!) and the youngest 8 of his 10 kids.

Tomorrow at this time I'll be en route from Seattle to Charlotte, NC, where I connect with my flight to Louisville. I'd like to think he trained at least one of the mechanics who worked on the planes I'll be aboard. I'm looking forward to seeing the dozens of family members who will be there, even though I wish I was seeing him at the end of the month for a family wedding in Seattle as planned instead of saying farewell to him...our father, who art in heaven... in Louisville.