Presidential Spirit: The True Story of an Airman Who Soared Above His Circumstances and the Woman Who Was the Wind Beneath His Wings

By Gina S Scheff

Gina has no intention of marrying again following a disastrous divorce. She wants to focus on raising her son and building a career, not falling in love. But then she meets a spirited airman named David Scheff and everything changes. It doesn’t take long for him to convince her that marrying her soul mate might be a good idea after all.
A member of the Air Force, David eventually becomes the flight chief for Air Force One, giving Gina the opportunity to shake hands with presidents William Jefferson Clinton and George W. Bush. It’s a great adventure! Still, once David retires from the military, they’re ready to enjoy a quieter life on a small farm in Ohio.
Life has a way of throwing you off-course, though, and when David is diagnosed with a rare and aggressive form of cancer, Gina learns the true meaning of standing by her husband not only in health but in sickness too. As Gina struggles to not fall apart as they face one devastating letdown after another, David shows her how to have grace under pressure and that you don’t need actual wings or even a plane to fly above your circumstances.
David always knew he had the spirit of an eagle. This story tells how Gina discovered just how right he was.

• Language: English
• Publisher: iUniverse
• Release date: May 14, 2020
• ISBN: 9781532086717

Gina S Scheff

Gina Scheff lived a rather routine life until she met her future husband David Scheff, who eventually served as the flight chief for Air Force One. Their once-in-a-lifetime romance inspired her to share their story of high-flying adventure, down home simplicity, and true love in the midst of his fatal bout with cancer. An accountant and food court manager by trade, Gina now puts words to paper to tell others about the amazing man who had the spirit of an eagle and showed her how to soar above any circumstance.

Book preview

Copyright © 2020 Gina S. Scheff.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

iUniverse

1663 Liberty Drive

Bloomington, IN 47403

www.iuniverse.com

1-800-Authors (1-800-288-4677)

Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.

ISBN: 978-1-5320-8670-0 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-5320-9161-2 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-5320-8671-7 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2020908914

iUniverse rev. date: 06/02/2020

CONTENTS

Preface

Chapter 1 Our Love Story

Chapter 2 From Birth to Man

Chapter 3 The Preacher Prayed Over Me

Chapter 4 United States Air Force or Bust

Chapter 5 Find Something to Do

Chapter 6 Priority One

Chapter 7 Life Was Good

Chapter 8 Never Forget

Chapter 9 I Can’t Go Anywhere

Chapter 10 Future, Past, and Present

Chapter 11 Just Suck It Up and Do It

Chapter 12 In His Sickness

Chapter 13 We See a Shadow

Chapter 14 Cancer Doesn’t Read Textbooks

Chapter 15 A Second Chance

Chapter 16 My Heart Was Racing

Chapter 17 A Positive Attitude in a Bad Situation

Chapter 18 Two Years to the Day

Chapter 19 The Tree

Chapter 20 Could Not Catch a Break

Chapter 21 Facing Facts

Chapter 22 The Last Wishbone

Chapter 23 Still Holding On

Chapter 24 One Last Breath

Chapter 25 Eagle Spirit Meets Owl Spirit

Chapter 26 Legacy Will Live On

Chapter 27 A Night I Will Never Forget

Chapter 28 My Hero

Appendix 1 Nobody Wants to Be a Hero

Appendix 2 David’s Speech

Appendix 3 A Message for Colleagues

Appendix 4 Are You Ready?

Appendix 5 David’s Military Service

Appendix 6 Tributes

Acknowledgments

PREFACE

I would like to dedicate this book—this love story—to my husband, David Scheff, in the hope that it will give my readers inspiration, encouragement, and strength. David’s incredible story, though devastating at times, captures the big vision and dreams of a young airman in the United States Air Force. As a young man, David read an article in Airman Magazine that inspired him to someday serve on presidential Air Force One. I took notes along the way as his hard work and dedication gradually paid off and his dream came true. As his wife, I stood right by his side as he achieved his vision and became the presidential flight chief for Air Force One.

David always said that his spirit animal was an eagle, and that is why the eagle is a symbol in this book. The presidential Air Force One VC-25 747 aircraft was the greatest part of David’s life and career. He was honored to wear the presidential eagle symbol daily on his Air Force One uniforms in the Presidential Airlift Group, serving at Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland.

Before knowing David, I did not think I could ever love again. My first marriage had left me heartbroken, and I hesitated to think about marriage a second time, but then David showed me that love was still possible.

It was an honor to be David’s wife. He was an amazing man, the love of my life, and he inspired me to tell the story of our marriage and what we went through together. David put me on a high pedestal, but we were best friends and soul mates. He taught me to soar high and never doubt myself. Being loved by David was the most amazing thing in the world to me, and the greatest moments in my life were when I got to see him at his happiest. As I have written this book, the words have come easily because I’m telling the story of what we lived and witnessed together.

Life was great for the two of us, and then David became ill from a rare form of cancer called cholangiocarcinoma and Klatskin tumor. When David’s doctors and surgeons told him that he needed to write a book, he would reply, My wife, Gina, is going to write my book. Sure enough, I started this book as soon as David became a cancer patient. I promised David that I would write this book for him, and I kept my promise. In my entire life, I have never known anyone who had a better attitude than David. As my husband’s caregiver, I was so hopeful, and I supported him through every moment in his cancer battle. I was married to David for twenty-three years, which was not nearly long enough. If I learned anything over the years, it was to be a good wife, caregiver, and writer, and to cherish all our memories.

As David’s widowed wife, I enjoy spending time with my two beautiful grandkids. I also enjoyed writing my first book, although reliving David’s death and putting all my emotions down on paper was painful and difficult.

40143.png

CHAPTER ONE

Our Love Story

Gina, your kiss is magic to me, and when you look at me, you touch my heart.

—David Scheff

I t was not love at first sight. I wish I could say it was, but to be honest, the first time David Scheff asked me out, I was too busy chuckling and working to fall in love. I thought he was joking with me. We were, after all, just friends at work. I did not say yes, but I did not say no. Maybe it was the day I was having, or I was just that picky. My family always said that I was so picky. I am a Virgo, and we like things perfect. At the time, I liked my job and friends, and my life was good—better than it had been in a while, in fact.

David and I met in 1988 when we worked at the same retail store in Maryland. He was part-time, and I was a full-time employee. The store sold food, beer, hardware, paint, pet supplies, and gardening supplies. The first time I remember seeing David, he was wearing gray corduroy pants and cowboy boots. At the beginning of his shift, I could always hear him come in wearing those boots; he walked with such pride and confidence that each step made a loud tapping sound. You do not see a lot of cowboy boots in the Washington, DC, area, and since I was from Ohio, it always caught my attention. Here was a man who did not care what others thought; he was going to be himself.

One day when the two of us were on break together, David told me he was in the Air Force and worked third shift in the Eighty-Ninth Airlift Wing, also known as SAM (Special Air Missions) FOX or the president’s wing. David always had a big smile on his face, and he greeted me each time he would pass me coming into work in the afternoons. Life was good for me, and I was working and taking things day by day. When David asked me on a date, I thought he was just kidding around, so I did not take him seriously. Dating was the last thing on my mind.

Later I changed jobs and became a cook supervisor at the airport cafeteria.

One Friday in the summer of 1990, David walked up and glared at me. He said, Gina, I’m mad at you.

Puzzled, I asked, Why?

Because you didn’t go out with me, he said.

I replied, I thought you were joking.

Actually, David had not been joking at all, and I realized he was serious about going out together. When he asked me again, with his bright blue eyes glistening, I said, Yes, I’ll go out with you. That made him happy, and he smiled from ear to ear. All he needed was some attention and to feel needed and cared for.

That night David took me on our first date, shopping at a nearby mall in Maryland. Yes, on our first date the two of us went shopping, and I was impressed by his love for shopping, especially since he was a man. He was impressed by my skill at putting together clothes for him, but it was enough just to get those blue eyes sparkling again. David’s eyes were gorgeous, a window deep into his soul, and I saw true honesty in those baby blues.

We enjoyed each other’s company that evening, and I loved the little red Chevy Luv pickup truck that he drove. It was impressive, watching him use the gear shift on the floor, and David sure knew how to shift those gears! I tried it once, but once was enough for me. I could never get the hang of shifting gears; when I would release the clutch, our heads would jerk back and forth.

David was a true gentleman, and he always treated women with respect. He opened and closed his truck door for me that night. After our shopping trip, we both really enjoyed talking about our lives over dinner.

To the best of my recollection, this is how our love story began. David was a good listener, and I knew that I was falling for him. When we would be together in his truck, every now and then he would look over at me with a big, glowing smile on his face. We had so much to talk about, sharing with each other what we were going through in our individual lives.

At the time, I was thirty years old and David was twenty-seven, but the age difference did not matter. He did not seem to care about it, and I found him mature for his age.

I kept thinking, Am I falling for this guy? Could this be happening to me? A week or so after that first date, it really hit me that we were falling for each other.

David was five feet seven, three inches taller than me, and he wore his dark blond hair in a flattop style. In my green eyes, his body build was right for me, and he was so handsome and perfect.

We had both gone through so much in our earlier lives. That first kiss was more than sensual—it was soft, gentle, and magical. It felt like destiny, and after that, the whole thing was a done deal. We fell in love quickly, developing a bond that turned two broken people into soul mates.

David charmed me and brought back a sparkle that I had lost many years earlier. We made each other feel special, both individually and together. We were both practically glowing with happiness, and other people could see it.

It did not take long for the subject of marriage to come up. In December 1990, David asked, Gina, will you marry me?

No, I said. No, I don’t want to get married again. I told you I wasn’t ready.

However, my David did not give up easily. Later that month, on Christmas Eve, he held me close and whispered, Gina, I want to marry you on Valentine’s Day.

Really? I asked.

David said, Yes, really.

I was thinking, Oh, my goodness, Valentine’s Day is less than two months away! The prospect of being married again was scary. I had it in my head that another marriage would not work out, but I did not want to hurt David’s feelings.

We had a long conversation about me not wanting to get remarried, but he made it sound so wonderfully tempting! He told me that I was the woman of his dreams. David wanted a wife who made him feel happy, a partner to walk beside him as his wife. I almost missed out on our life together by not taking him seriously the first time he asked me on a date. I never thought I could be loved, until David Scheff found me.

After my first marriage had been so unfair to me, I was afraid to marry again, and David’s first marriage had been unfair to him too, so we talked about everything in our previous marriages. The two of us could talk about anything, such as our hopes and dreams for what we thought a perfect marriage should be—loving and caring for each other, looking out for each other’s wants, needs, and best interests. We promised each other that ours could, should, and would be the best marriage ever. I had never imagined that David would eventually become my second husband, but after our long talk, it felt perfect. How could I not believe David, after all the fantastic promises he made me? David made me believe in him, and I let him guide me like an eagle gliding ahead.

By then, I was more than ready to try marriage again, because David made it sound fabulous and true. He made me so happy, and I could see his joy as he beamed from ear to ear. David’s tone was soft, and he never raised his voice to me to make a point. You just know it is right when someone makes you so happy and full of life and love. I was not backward like I had been as a child; I had become outgoing and open, whereas he was quiet and reserved.

I could not keep myself from falling in love with David, and when we exchanged our vows, we gave each other our hearts. We married on a rainy winter’s day at the courthouse in Maryland, and I promised David that rain on our wedding day was good luck. We felt that we needed all the