Today my dad sent me the obituary of Wayne Page. I have known Wayne since I started my job at True Value in 1986. Wayne was a part time employee there, having retired from his real job. I had no idea how old Wayne was, to a sixteen year old, he was old. Turns out, he was only 68.
Wayne, along with the other two part time guys, Jerry and Jerry, provided me with a wealth of knowledge. They were all these amazing men and I am truly blessed to have worked with and known them. Jerry, the former gas station owner, would take me to the plumbing aisle to show me how a toilet worked. I have replaced three toilets in my adult life, all thanks to Jerry. The other Jerry was a retired Air Force man. When I was getting ready to get married, he was wonderfully generous with advice about the ins and outs of base life. He made the unknown, okay. Jerry and Jerry both drove El Caminos and smoked non stop. When I worked at True Value, it was still legal to smoke inside a store while helping customers. They both slicked their hair back a bit. Both rolled their sleeves.
Wayne and his wife, Manon, came to Danny and my wedding. They were exactly what we wanted to be in our retired years. Wayne still took his wife out on dates. He took her out for ice cream. He treated her like a queen. He would give me wonderful advice about weathering through the tight years. Both he and Manon were so incredibly supportive. I admired their love and devotion to each other.
I had seen Wayne a couple of times when I moved back to Cedar Rapids. He was still working at True Value. I took Ashlyn and Hayley up to the Mt. Vernon Road True Value a couple of times. Wayne got to meet them.
I don't know what happened to Jerry and Jerry. Both had heart problems when I knew them. I doubt either is still alive. All three of these men, plus the men that I worked with at Ace many years later, were Godsends. They knew that I needed to know how to do things for myself. When it was time to stock a tool box before I moved to California, they helped me out. At eighteen, I could repair a toilet, wire a lamp, cut glass and mix paint. When I worked at Ace, cutting pipe and keys were added to that list. The guys there also showed me how to rescreen and reglaze windows. Between them and my dad, I got to be a pretty handy girl to have around.
So today I will remember this incredible man and with him, all the other True Value and Ace guys that I knew and loved. Such gifts to me. They never thought me incapable or too much of a girl to get my hands greasy. They never thought I wasn't smart enough to tell a grown man that he needed a 5/8 to 3/4 coupler. They had my back when customers were assholes. I remember on more than one occasion one of those guys sayin something like "well, if Annie told you this was the part you needed, then this is the part you need." They all called me Annie.
It's too bad that Heaven is not a fixer upper as there are some top notch hardware guys up there ready to work. Godspeed.
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