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Godspeed, Mr. Bob
Oct. 15th, 2007 05:22 pmWe knew he was getting frail, our neighbor Bob. He was in his 80s, after all, but this last year the man who took three walks a day and mowed everyone's lawn when we weren't looking started being less noticable in presence... he only walked once a day, it seemed, and now he only mowed your lawn when you asked him to - as he did while Arni and I were at Pennsic.
He had outlived all his boyhood and family-man friends and had made new ones in our neighborhood when he moved here a while back. He would sit in his open garage door (out of the sun) and watch the small comings and goings of everyone, handing out candy and flavor-ices to the kids, chatting with all of us, leaving a small pile of bread crumbs on the street in front of his house two or three times a day to watch the birds feed.
He watched our willow tree grow and was our dog's best friend in her declining years. Just before she passed, he adopted a stray that the pound would have put to sleep because it was too old (he was going to turn it in) and he'd walk that dog all around the neighborhood and patiently hold her leash while she slept under our willow tree.
He was a loving, upright, non-judging man.
Who warned me a couple of days ago he was "having some problems, just in case you see some activity around my house, but don't worry, I'm taking care of it - I've got a doctor's appointment."
He died today in route to that appointment. There is a lot of joy in the After, right now, as his wife and family greet him again. And I'm sure a couple of puppies will be tail-wagging too.
But I'm going to miss him.
He had outlived all his boyhood and family-man friends and had made new ones in our neighborhood when he moved here a while back. He would sit in his open garage door (out of the sun) and watch the small comings and goings of everyone, handing out candy and flavor-ices to the kids, chatting with all of us, leaving a small pile of bread crumbs on the street in front of his house two or three times a day to watch the birds feed.
He watched our willow tree grow and was our dog's best friend in her declining years. Just before she passed, he adopted a stray that the pound would have put to sleep because it was too old (he was going to turn it in) and he'd walk that dog all around the neighborhood and patiently hold her leash while she slept under our willow tree.
He was a loving, upright, non-judging man.
Who warned me a couple of days ago he was "having some problems, just in case you see some activity around my house, but don't worry, I'm taking care of it - I've got a doctor's appointment."
He died today in route to that appointment. There is a lot of joy in the After, right now, as his wife and family greet him again. And I'm sure a couple of puppies will be tail-wagging too.
But I'm going to miss him.
