Wayne, may you rest in peace

My stepdad, Wayne McGill, had an accident and passed away on 4 October 2010. Even though he had 4 grown kids of his own when he and my mother married, he opened his heart and his home to her 6 grown children. Wayne was much more to me than a second father, he was a wonderful friend to me and Bobby. When Bobby's building was blown up in Saudi Arabia, I lived with my mother and Wayne until Bobby found a job in the U.S. The night I flew in from Riyadh, Wayne's favorite horse Candy had her second foal. I couldn't sleep and happened to look towards the pasture and saw a streak of roan and white. Wayne thought I was playing an April Fool's joke on him and almost didn't get out of bed. Imagine my surprise when he let me name her. Wayne spent countless hours in the mall parking lot teaching me how to drive the truck and horse trailer so my sister-in-law, Patti, and I could take the horses trail riding anytime we wanted. He and my mother flew out to Virginia and helped us remodel a kitchen, then we went out on the Chesapeake Bay and caught a mess of striped bass. Wayne and I fished and went trail riding every chance we got, ate hamburgers in the local greasy spoon, coconut shrimp at Red Lobster, and pie and coffee anywhere and anytime we could get away with it. We played tricks on and told stories about each other, played a lot of cards, and thoroughly enjoyed each other's company. Wayne made a sign that read "Lesley's home away from home" and propped it up next to his pop-up camper. Overnight visitors were teasingly warned not to overstay their welcome; the threat of brown sugar in the sugarbowl meant it was time for them to go home. One of my last trips to Colorado I made Wayne a coconut cream pie, his favorite, from scratch. I didn't get a chance to make him one last pie, but I see him every time I tell one of our stories, and he's smiling.

Lesley