We encounter people everyday. Like leaves floating by in a stream, they might make a momentary impression as they move from our mind’s eye. But occcasionally, someone comes into our lives and changes our world. I can think of a handful of people like that — but none have changed my life quite like Maggie Hurley.
I worked with Maggie at Pope High School from 1991-1992. Her husband Ron had lost his job as a pilot when Eastern Airlines went on strike and Maggie went to work as a high school custodian to make things meet. I liked Maggie and quickly became friends with her. She was old (45) but was funny and was a really hard worker. One day, she came up to me and said, “My daughter broke up with her boyfriend, how’d you like to meet her?” I thought, “Your standards for your daughter are pretty damn low — it’s not like I’m going to be a doctor,” but I agreed to the offer. Saturday morning, Maggie brought her daughter up to the country club where I worked on the weekend (I’ve always worked 24/7) — and promptly locked her keys in the car. So I got a couple of hours to get to know her daughter. She was short, skinny and had short hair. She also had big blue eyes and was really cute; she didn’t say much either.
This summer Maggie flew down to our house and I picked her up at the airport. We drove across the dam toward our house and I looked at her and said, “Everything you see this weekend is because of you.” No truer words have ever been spoken. Yeah, Maggie is Amy’s mom and my mother-in-law. Yeah, we have had our moments over the past 31 years. But I am grateful for her and how she changed my life for the better.