Tribute to Berry Leland Heath (1946-2010)

As a teenager I was not the epitome of American youth.  In fact, I exemplified everything you didn't want your son to be.  I was spiritually wounded, emotionally angry, and physically unkempt.  Oh I might have had potential, but I was well on my way to flushing anything that society would have deemed valuable. 

But then I met Jonny and Phillip Heath, or better yet, they met me.  I don’t know to this day why they chose to reach out to me other than the possibility that they were raised that way.  You see, I believe you can tell a lot about a man by the kind of children he raises, and Berry’s two oldest boys became my friends during a time when most people pointed to me as the worst case scenario.

It was Berry who gave me a job as a dishwasher at the Heath’s Restaurant, and later I learned to cook.  It wasn’t long until I became somewhat of a fixture around the Heath home, as Jonny and Phillip became my unlikely best friends for my last couple of years of high school.  I still think of those days often.

My home was quite difficult and even violent at times, but Berry and his family gave me a place where I felt safe, a place where I felt accepted.  The more I reflect on those two summers the more I believe God’s providence used Berry and his family to teach me about true grace and genuine kindness.  Berry and his family will always be remembered as ones who made a difference in my life when a difference was desperately needed.  God bless them.

Proverbs 19:22  "What is desired in a man is kindness"