Saturday, June 25, 2016

Georgi Alexiev


My Father and Mother in law

Throughout my life there have been many people I have looked up to.  There was something about them that I wanted to have in my life.  Over the years the number of such people has shrunk significantly either because I achieved the attribute in the person I looked up to or (as was more often the case) because they turned out to not be as amazing as I once believed.  My father in law was a person I looked up to until the day he died; a day that sadly was today.

Georgi Alexiev was born in 1949 to Boris and Stefka.  He was born 4 years after communism was forced upon his home country of Bulgaria.  He never liked it, and he was happy when it ended.  He would often tell me how much he admired Ronald Reagan for helping to end communism and restore freedom.  He loved his country and was a true patriot.  One day as I was driving with him over the mountains I mentioned how beautiful Bulgaria is.  He responded by telling me that it is a piece of heaven.

Georgi was a hard-working man who contributed much to society.  He was an engineer who helped developed many infrastructure improvements in Bulgaria.  My favorite is the Yastrebets lift that carries passengers from Borovets resort to the Yastrebets peak on Mount Rila several thousand feet up.  Every time I ride it I think of him.

He worked hard and in sometimes dangerous conditions.  This allowed him to retire early, but it did not keep him from working.  He continued to have side jobs working on other projects in and around his home town of Kosenets where he was loved by everyone.  He was not one to just sit around and do nothing.

Yet for all his accomplishments, the one he was most proud of was his family.  When he passed away late this morning he did so surrounded by pictures of his 4 grandchildren in the house his grandfather built and in the room where his father died.  Family was very important to Georgi.  He loved his wife Maria, and two daughters Stefka and Sasha dearly.  It is my hope that I can be as loving of a husband and father to Sasha and my daughters as he was a father and a grandfather to them.

The young Alexievi family:  Maria, Sasha, Stefka, and Georgi

He was a great man, and I can’t think of the best words to send him off, so I will borrow from Rich Mullins:

“This life has shown me how we’re mended and how we’re torn
How it’s ok to be lonely as long as you’re free
Sometimes my ground was stony
And sometimes covered up with thorns
And only you can make it what it had to be
And now that it’s done . . .
When I leave I want to go out like Elijah
With a whirlwind to fuel my chariot of fire
And when I look back on the stars
It’ll be like a candle light in central park
And it won’t break my heart to say 
goodbye.”


Сбогом тъст ми.

4 comments:

  1. dear friends,we are so sorry with you... this is hard to work through; death is our final enemy. Thanking God for this wonderful man and the legacy he leaves.

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    1. Thank you for sharing Georgi's story! He sure sounds like a person to follow. I am so sorry for you and Sasha's and the res of the families loss.

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  2. Thank you for sharing such great thoughts about Georgi. He sounds like a wonderful person and he will be very missed. May the Lord's presence be very real as you grieve and care for one another.

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  3. Catching up on blogs. I cherished this story/post as I reflect on the families of my 5 boys adopted from Bulgaria. Good good people. Strong loving people. Like my boys, like your family. :o) I'm so sorry for your loss. I sing a lot of Rich Mullins songs, not many remember them, the words ring true beautifully. God Bless you all you are in our thoughts and prayers. I hope I see Georgi in Heaven and shake his hand. (((HUGS))) from Minnesota.

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