“Dad had been waiting on a heart transplant for three months,...

“Dad had been waiting on a heart transplant for three months, but he eventually got so sick that they took him off the waiting list. Mom wanted to spend one final night with him at the hospital. But she didn’t want me going home alone. So I think she was preoccupied with finding me a place to stay. There must have been a notice sent out on the church email list, because a bunch of people were coming by the hospital to say goodbye. One of them was a red headed lady named Sandy. I didn’t know her well. I knew she was married to the deacon who talks a lot. But I think she sensed I needed help, because she walked up to me and asked: ‘Do you have anywhere to go tonight?’ When I told her ‘not really,’ she said: ‘You’re coming with me.’ I hadn’t eaten all day, so she took me to Sonic and got me a grilled cheese sandwich. She asked how I was feeling. She asked about my plans for the future. And she told me to write down everything I could remember about my last conversation with my dad. When we got back to her house, she let me sleep in her daughter’s bedroom. The next morning she drove me back to the hospital. My whole family gathered around, and we prayed, and sang songs, and let my dad go. Sandy stayed through all of that. Then two days later she took me canoeing on the 4th of July. We watched fireworks together from the lake. Over the next few weeks, Sandy started hosting these bonfires at her house. She’d invite everyone from church who’d lost someone recently. It wasn’t a guided thing. You could talk about whatever you wanted. And leave whenever you got tired. But they were comforting. At some point I got a text message from Sandy’s son. He was away at the Naval Academy, but he sent me a short note saying: ‘I’m so sorry about your dad. And I’m praying for you.’ One year of talking, and three years of long distance later, we were married. On the night of our engagement, Sandy gave me a set of pearls. She said: ‘All the women in my family get a set of pearls when they turn sixteen. That’s around the age I got to know you. And I never told you, because I didn’t want to pressure things. But I knew you were perfect for my son. And I always hoped you’d be my daughter.”