Rescued

I have spent the last three days mentally composing and deleting and editing this post. I am not usually at a complete loss for words, but this time, every phrase has felt inadequate and incomplete. I know that many, if not all of you will understand though, so here it is…

It was November 13, 1998, the day I first met the man who would become my Father in Law. I don’t recall any words that he spoke to me that night, but I do remember his quiet presence across the table, and the way his eyes carefully watched and appraised this Girl who was with his Son. He must have liked what he saw though, because I was welcomed into his family with open arms.

Always an optimist, and quite a free spirit, there wasn’t much about him that was conventional and expected. One of the most resourceful and innovative people I have ever known, he one winter found himself just days before Christmas, being told that the house he was renting for his family had been sold and he had to get out. Most people would panic in that situation, and perhaps he did a little, but within days, he had secured property, bought a travel trailer and a generator, and was able to keep his family warm and dry until Spring, when he could build a structure for them to live in.

He had a way of seeing what was in a person before they themselves did, I think. And he had a way of encouraging and speaking to those qualities until they became obvious to that person. It was that way with my art. There is not one person on the face of the earth who has encouraged and cheered and added ideas to my artistic endeavors more than he. Always asking what I was up to next, and being truly thrilled with each success.

He himself was an artist, sometimes caught up by life circumstances and a practical nature, but always seeing with an eye that noticed lines and curves, color and contrast, in the beauty of our world. He learned to capture that beauty with his camera and with a hammer and with his words, often weaving stories that captivated the attention of everyone in the room.

Over the years, I have watched him in his relationship with my Farmboy, and enjoyed listening to their conversations, as they spent hours troubleshooting and fixing or building something. Fences, wells, bulldozers, houses, barns, cupboards, ponds, birdhouses, rock walls; you name it, they could together figure it out and build it better than ever before. The mutual respect and admiration that they had for each other was easily apparent to anyone who saw their interactions.

But what I appreciated about him the best, was his unwavering faith. Having experienced more than his share of heartache and difficulty in life, he remained grounded and secure in his relationship with his Heavenly Father. He knew, and demonstrated with his life, that people and situations would let him down, but that his Creator would always remain faithful. After struggling with illness for a very long time, that Creator came and rescued him from his broken body on Thursday evening.

I can’t claim to have known him best or longest or anywhere near the depth of those who have walked beside him for many more years. But I know that he loved me, and was proud to have me as Daughter by marriage. I never once doubted how he felt about the addition I made to the family. And for that I am very grateful.

I will miss him dearly for the rest of my days on earth, miss the place he held in my Farmboy's life, and regret the Grandpa-shaped hole in my Children's future. But together, with his brother and sisters, wife, daughter, son-in-law, grandchildren and countless friends, we will keep his life story vibrant and part of our verbal history. And together, we will remember the time coming when we will be reunited for eternity.

Joel Kevin Twist
August 11, 1942 - January 19, 2012