May 9, 2021, column:

Our light can help others shine a little brighter

By Mike Haynes

            You may have noticed her at the check-in desk of Rick Husband Amarillo International Airport or at the boarding gate or wearing a bright yellow vest on the tarmac.

            Even approaching the age of 60, she exuded energy that some half her age didn’t come close to.

            Maybe she stood out because she was tall or because of her rapid-fire voice or her big hair or her looks that seemed more fitting for a fashion designer’s runway than the kind where airplanes land.

            But she had an impact on people, maybe more than her family realized.

            “I never knew Ginger's last name, even. I just knew that she was always a friendly face when I traveled and she never failed to welcome me home from my many business trips.

“When I saw the obituary and mentioned to my husband that my favorite gate agent had passed, he immediately knew of whom I was speaking and described her (even though he seldom traveled with me).

“She made that much of an impression. I pray for peace and comfort for her family and friends, including those who knew her only as the friendly person at the airport.”

Those online comments were from a frequent flier named Becky after my brother David’s wife, Ginger, suffered a fatal heart attack at their McLean home April 13.

Ginger Haynes shows off an award her Amarillo airport team won from
American Airlines in 2016. (Envoy Air photo by Adam Simmons)

Ginger Ann Haynes had not been aware of any coronary problems. She had been busy since retirement from American Airlines and its affiliates three years ago – doing paperwork for her part-time job for a risk control company, feeding neighborhood cats who frequented the cardboard-box homes she had built for them, playing with her first grandchild, 3-year-old Dallas, and looking forward to the next visit of her second grandchild, 8-month-old Jenesis.

In his book, “You Are Never Alone,” pastor/writer Max Lucado said a life insurance man’s calculations estimated that Lucado, born in 1955, would be around until 2038. The author wrote that all of us are “running out of days, dates, and dances. … The hour-glass was irreversibly flipped the day we were born…”

We don’t want to think of that, and we know that for any of us, the end date could be moved up. It could be at age 95 like it was with my grandfather John, who was born on this day in 1902. But it could be 9 as with Canyon sweetheart Tatum Schulte.

Or it could be at 61 as with Ginger. We don’t know how days are left, so we really should make the most of each one. She did.

Driving 70 miles each way daily for her airport job while also using her lightning-fast typing talent for transcription work at home, Ginger didn’t have time to be seen much in the community during her two-decade stint at the airline or, before that, her nine years working for Boone Pickens at Mesa Petroleum. But the fact that several former coworkers from both companies traveled more than an hour to attend her service revealed the impact she had as a professional.

“Ginger was a key part of the department at Mesa when I started there in ’89, said former coworker Deanna in another online comment. “She was always ready to help us do better and present in a professional manner. I always enjoyed running into her at the airport…”

 “She was such a wonderful person. I cannot believe that she is gone,” wrote Dr. Ernesto Rivera, a cardiologist who knew her from the airport. “She always had a very positive attitude, always with a smile. When I saw her working at the airport in Amarillo, she worked so hard on multiple shifts, and she always was kind to everybody. She was so dynamic. …”

The author of Hebrews wrote, “Do not forget to show hospitality to strangers, for by so doing some people have shown hospitality to angels without knowing it.” (Hebrews 13:2) Yes, hospitality was our sister-in-law’s job, but after retirement, it continued. She and her husband went out of their way the past couple of years to assist a new friend, Cliff, who had financial and medical challenges. Ginger said she believed God was leading her to help Cliff.

None of us know the impact we might have on others. Kathy’s uncle Floyd, who died April 21 at age 86, lived in a Kentucky “holler,” and we visited him only a few times. But I’ll forever remember his efforts to educate me on the types of trees and plants growing in his immaculate front yard. Every resident of Spearman we meet tells us of the kindnesses our late nephew David bestowed on them when he lived there before his death at age 36.

The gospel writer Matthew said, “… let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven. (Matthew 5:16)

My brother met Ginger in 1986 on the cruise ship SS Norway. She was a native of Miami, Florida, he a West Texan from a town of less than 1,000 people. Six months later they were married, and the cool, stylish Floridian found herself adapting to boots and jeans on the dry and windy prairie. We had small adjustments to make, too. After one of her first meals in the Texas Panhandle Ginger, her words rolling out like a speedboat, told our mother, “My compliments to the chef!” My sister Sheri had to explain, “Mom, she said the food was good.”

This Mother’s Day, Ginger’s husband David, son John, daughter Sheri Ann and the rest of us are grieving, but every day, everywhere, families grieve the loss of loved ones. I hope that seeing the good in those who go before us will spur us to let our lights shine brighter.