just strum
June 11th, 2009, 04:47 PM
Last night I met up with a number of old friends to grab a bite to eat and talk about our friend that passed away on Sunday. After we ate, we drove down the street and met up with many more friends. Before entering the funeral home, we stood around outside to talk about our friend Bob. Many of us hadn't seen each other in months and as long as years, but although the circumstances weren't the best, we met again with a common desire to say goodbye to a good friend.
As we entered the building, we initially thought there was a group of people mingling in the entry area, but we quickly found out that is where you got in line. As word passed down the line "be patient, the wait to the viewing area was at least an hour".
So for that hour we slowly moved down one hall, into another, and finally into a large room with a line about another 20 minutes of waiting to finally get up to the viewing area. During that time you heard lots of laughter as people told stories about when they met Bob, when they traveled with Bob, when Bob yelled at them (everyone had at least one story of Bob yelling at them).
Once we reached the front of the large room, there was a display that represented a part of Bob that many of us knew, and parts of Bob most of us did not. On one stand there was a bottle of Beefeater gin, a pack of Camels, small pink flamingo's (he loved them for some reason that to this day I do not know the story behind it). There were a couple of Hawaiian style shirts hanging in various spots (many people wore Hawaiian shirts to honor him). Some pictures of him when he was in the Navy, pictures of his wedding day, pictures with his family.
A couple of years ago Bob had to go out to California to help with a move of a company we had purchased. Someone back at work made a life size blowup pic of Bob's face and tapped a straw to the back of it so you could hold it up as a mask. About 40 of us got together and had a picture taken of 40 Bob's standing in the cafeteria area and we sent it to Bob. It was great to see one of those masks displayed on one of the stands.
I was very fortunate to have met the members of Bob's family a number of years ago and watched his sons grow into young men. His wife stood their very proud of her husband. We talked about Bob, joked about him always getting the last laugh and eventually are eyes started to gather tears.
I moved on to the oldest son (20 years old) and told him that he needs to take care of his mom and his younger brother. He signed up for the Navy back in December and was due to leave next month. I told him that the last time I talked face to face with his Dad, he told me how proud he was of him joining the Navy. Matt decided to postpone entering into the Navy for one year, but hopefully he will follow through.
Finally I talked to the youngest son (18) and it was obvious he was the one having the most difficult time. We talked about his Dad's final days and how difficult it was for him to watch him slip away. Although he was having a difficult time, there was a sense of "I'll get through this" in his voice.
I know Bob for 15+ years. He wanted people to think he was mean, he wanted people to think he was grumpy, but he would do anything to help a friend.
It was a wonderful sight to see that so many people saw through Bob's crusty exterior and recognized a wonderful individual.
I know this will mean little to all of you, but I felt the need to write it and felt it would be accepted in this forum.
As we entered the building, we initially thought there was a group of people mingling in the entry area, but we quickly found out that is where you got in line. As word passed down the line "be patient, the wait to the viewing area was at least an hour".
So for that hour we slowly moved down one hall, into another, and finally into a large room with a line about another 20 minutes of waiting to finally get up to the viewing area. During that time you heard lots of laughter as people told stories about when they met Bob, when they traveled with Bob, when Bob yelled at them (everyone had at least one story of Bob yelling at them).
Once we reached the front of the large room, there was a display that represented a part of Bob that many of us knew, and parts of Bob most of us did not. On one stand there was a bottle of Beefeater gin, a pack of Camels, small pink flamingo's (he loved them for some reason that to this day I do not know the story behind it). There were a couple of Hawaiian style shirts hanging in various spots (many people wore Hawaiian shirts to honor him). Some pictures of him when he was in the Navy, pictures of his wedding day, pictures with his family.
A couple of years ago Bob had to go out to California to help with a move of a company we had purchased. Someone back at work made a life size blowup pic of Bob's face and tapped a straw to the back of it so you could hold it up as a mask. About 40 of us got together and had a picture taken of 40 Bob's standing in the cafeteria area and we sent it to Bob. It was great to see one of those masks displayed on one of the stands.
I was very fortunate to have met the members of Bob's family a number of years ago and watched his sons grow into young men. His wife stood their very proud of her husband. We talked about Bob, joked about him always getting the last laugh and eventually are eyes started to gather tears.
I moved on to the oldest son (20 years old) and told him that he needs to take care of his mom and his younger brother. He signed up for the Navy back in December and was due to leave next month. I told him that the last time I talked face to face with his Dad, he told me how proud he was of him joining the Navy. Matt decided to postpone entering into the Navy for one year, but hopefully he will follow through.
Finally I talked to the youngest son (18) and it was obvious he was the one having the most difficult time. We talked about his Dad's final days and how difficult it was for him to watch him slip away. Although he was having a difficult time, there was a sense of "I'll get through this" in his voice.
I know Bob for 15+ years. He wanted people to think he was mean, he wanted people to think he was grumpy, but he would do anything to help a friend.
It was a wonderful sight to see that so many people saw through Bob's crusty exterior and recognized a wonderful individual.
I know this will mean little to all of you, but I felt the need to write it and felt it would be accepted in this forum.