The Awakening of H. K. Derryberry by Jim Bradford & Andy Hardin

Author:Jim Bradford & Andy Hardin
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Thomas Nelson
Published: 2016-08-01T04:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 21

The World’s Best Blind Pilot

Looking back now, I can see that 2003 marked a turning point for HK and me. My new best friend turned thirteen that year and began experiencing the fullness of life in ways I never could have imagined when I was that age. Even though he was now a teenager, he looked much younger. People sometimes patted his head and spoke to him as if he were a small child, but that didn’t seem to bother him. His personality overflowed with curiosity and wonder, always ready for a new challenge.

Becoming a teenager was a big deal for HK, especially when Brenda pulled out all the stops. She planned an extra-special birthday bash with friends and family at one of his favorite Brentwood restaurants. She spread the word that gifts were optional, but she asked everyone to bring a funny birthday card. Oh, how HK loved greeting cards!

Hunting for the perfect birthday card was near the top of his favorite shopping experiences. We could spend hours in our local Hallmark card shop and return the following weekend to scour for fresh inventory. Even then, his quest to find just the right message for a special person often consumed thirty minutes or more, as I read aloud verse after verse from just one section of the latest arrivals. He loved the music-playing varieties, but his main quest was for the perfect card, usually the one that made him laugh the most.

After making the perfect selection, our next hurdle was keeping him from telling the intended recipient, usually Grammy or a friend from church. He simply could not keep secrets. Most of the time the person knew weeks in advance that he or she would be receiving a greeting card and usually knew the exact message contained inside. HK always justified “spilling the beans” this way: “They just really need to know they are getting a card. Waiting for that special day is just too hard.”

The first weekend in July found Pearl, Brenda, me, and twelve of HK’s closest friends gathered for his thirteenth birthday celebration. One of them came with a special handmade card containing a surprise gift that left the birthday boy speechless. Grand Rivers, Kentucky (population 343), is home to Patty’s 1880’s Settlement, an award-winning tourist restaurant set on the western Kentucky shores of Land Between the Lakes National Recreation Area, about 115 miles northwest of Nashville. And Gary Waller thought that a visit to Patty’s would make the perfect birthday gift for a newly minted teenager, especially if it involved his first airplane flight.

Because HK was still recuperating from leg surgery, the birthday trip had to be postponed almost four months. But on a clear, frosty Saturday morning in late October, the time finally arrived for his long-awaited airplane adventure. It was a gorgeous autumn morning, sunny, without a hint of clouds in sight. Trees showcased their finest colors in shades of burnt orange, golden yellow, and fire-engine red. Winds remained calm, and even

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