Do You Have Heroes?

When I was a kid, I had many heroes. Roy Rodgers, Superman, Marshall Dillon were a few of my TV heroes. I had sports heroes, too. Mickey Mantle, Willie Mays, Roy Campanella and, of course, Roger Maris. Any minister was a hero to me and most teachers, too.

When I first arrived at Snohomish High School I met a woman who became one of the stellar lights of my life. She was in charge of the Special Education Department at the high school and she was a "special" person. There was no one who was exempt from her loving and tolerant treatment. There was really no infraction she would not overlook. Of course, she had standards, and they were high. But she simply loved all people, smart or not, handsome or not, wealthy or not. It made no difference to her who you were, she was going to love you. No matter what!! I mean it, too. She simply made up her mind you would be loved. And you were!

She once asked if I would be interested in teaching a music class for older special ed students. She thought if I could just lead them in some kind of music lesson each day, they would enjoy it. She told me that they may not remember tomorrow what I taught them today, but that was not important. I was pretty reticent but she assured me that there would be an aide to bring them to class each day and would stay in the class to keep an eye on them. So I finally acquiesced.

I will never forget those kids! They were awesome! They were polite, they listened everso attentively and they asked the best questions. We learned about how a piano was made, how sound came out of instruments, we had a composer come and write a new piece of music right before their eyes (and ears). At the end of the year we acted out the story of the Herdmann kids from "The Best Christmas Pageant Ever". Somebody read the story and the kids acted. It was hilarious! They had so much fun and I learned so much from them. They were my heroes!

Whenever there was a problem on campus, this wonderful "special ed lady" knew exactly how to handle it. I will always remember her with fondness and respect. Her name was Doris Wentworth and she passed away this past Tuesday, aged 83. In 1985, I had sung for some school event and afterward, she asked me if I would sing for her funeral. I laughingly said that I would, knowing that we both probably would forget about it. Well, we didn't. I got a call three weeks ago and she was calling to say that the time would soon be nigh and would I still be willing to sing for her funeral. I told her I was not singing anymore, but that for her, I would be honored to sing.

I went to her house and we had one last visit. Even as she was approaching death, she was humble and joyful and smiling. I really believe that when God was creating Doris, He was sending us an example of what real human love is all about. Thank you, God for people like Doris. Thank you, Doris for being one of my heroes!