VIPs

Looking back, there have been many Very Important People (VIPS) who have touched my life when I needed a helping hand, guidance or maybe just a hint. Wayne Rodgers, my friend Sally's father, provided equine and life guidance when I was in those tender junior high hears especially. He was a great role model. Wayne, the General Manager of Walnut Grove Company in Atlantic, was an intelligent, quiet, mostly serious man who I looked up to. 

Me with Frosty - Wayne is in the background

When I was in 7th grade, my mom asked Wayne to help find me a horse. My parents (and grandparents) got me a horse for my birthday. He accepted that challenge, hunting down my first mare, Frosty. She was owned by a family in Yale, Iowa. Wayne and I drove together to pick her up. I was overjoyed to be getting a horse. I must have talked his ear off. One year later, the family wanted Frosty back, so I "traded up" for a 3-year-old registered quarter horse gelding they had by the name of Poco Hi Jack. Then my new young horse needed training - Wayne helped with that and he lined up all our horses (he/Sal had some too) medical and shoeing needs.

Wayne and I went on many a road trip together - sometimes with my friend Sally, other times it was just he and I. We talked about many things in life, but mostly stuck to horse talk. Years later, when Paul and I were dating, I was so pleased that he got to know Wayne and his lovely wife Anna Day when he helped Wayne build a shed at their home in Atlantic. Paul agrees with me. Wayne was a VIP - to many people.

I read today about another VIP. He meant a great deal to many young people at a school in Ohio. Dan Wirth was a custodian at the school. I read about him in a Washington Post Article. Mr. Wirth passed away recently after a short illness, and the students were saddened. He was a "security blanket" in their young lives.

Many of the students are from low-income families. They relied on Mr. Wirth as a "steady Eddie". He swept up messes and helped coordinate departures at the end of the school day. It sounds like he did his duties with a smile. I read that this man was a former steelworker and owner of an electronics store, who found himself working as a custodian. He might have considered that this job to be beneath his skill set. But he didn't. We need more Dan Wirths in our world. I'm sorry we lost him so soon. RIP.

I told Paul about this story, and we decided Creston has had a similar VIP gem in Darwin West, bus driver extraordinaire! Darwin drove bus routes and drove the bus for sports teams. He always had a bright smile for everyone - and a few smart comments.

I bet you have VIPs in your lives too. Take time to thank them - if you can. I get to see Wayne's daughter Sally soon. I'll tell her how much her father meant to me.