PERSONAL: Good-Bye, Virgil - R.I.P.

My hospice client and friend, Virgil B., passed away last week while I was away on a backpacking trip. He was my hospice client since June, 2011, and we spent many wonderful hours together. Although confidentiality prevents me from saying or showing much here, I loved taking Virgil out of his group home to see the local sights. I have reproduced 2 of them here, with his face blurred out for privacy reasons.

Virgil loved the outdoors and I took him almost everywhere he wanted to go (and then some). Most memorable was the time I took him up Highway 1, all the way to Ragged Point. Previously, he consistently told me he wanted to go up highway 1, which was farther than I was comfortable taking him. However, his persistence finally paid off. I checked with his kin and the group home, and got permission to take him away for 4 hours - now I'm glad that I did.

Virgil absolutely LOVED ice cream, so I had to include a photo of him wolfing some down! He wasn't really supposed to have any, but I kept an eye on him and made sure he didn't choke on it, though he did scare me a few times!

Virgil loved his wife, Loree, more than life itself, and thought of her (and mentioned her) often. It was devastating to him when she passed away (a few years before I met him). A huge "Jesus Hug" goes out to Pastor Scott and his wife Joy, and their entire SLO congregation at Assembly of God (AoG) Church. I began taking Virgil to AOG church in September of 2011. He loved to attend the church and he loved God. The congregation at AOG was absolutely wonderful, both to Virgil and to me. Thanks and many blessings to the wonderful AOG congregation, from Ken and Anthony the greeters at the door every Sunday, to Ernie and Donah (sp?), Lisa, Jimmy and Erica, Big Bob, Candy, Giff, Flo, Forrest, Ryan, Frank, Diane and the rest of the AOG crew.

Many thanks also go out to the fine staff, primarily Jep and Erma, at the group home on Royal Way where Virgil lived during the time that I knew him. The staff has kind hearts, and treats the clients with great warmth under difficult circumstances - God Bless you both.

Virgil, I will miss you, brother, and I mourn your passing. Thanks for all the good times. Rest in Peace. Oh, and Go! Dodgers! (he was a big fan, just like my Dad is).

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PERSONAL: Goodbye to the Memories

Yes, they are only things, but they are possessions attached to memories. Besides, we had a lot of fun with those things! It is, of course, the memories we shall miss. With oldest son Andrew graduating from UCDavis in June 2012, and James a junior at UC Santa Barbara, we are pretty much empty nesters. Sigh. 

We've been selling stuff that no longer fits our lifestyle, and buying stuff for the new world ahead. Yes, its harder than we expected to pad around our  quiet house. We moved into our current home when Andrew was barely 2 years old and James was just born. Now they are grown men and gone, and so is most of the big stuff (below) that we shared with them growing up. Even our dog, Shayna, is on her last legs (at 17 years of age). Another big sigh. ***Since this writing, our sweet Shayna Punim the Wonder Dog passed on to doggie heaven - RIP.

Its feels a bit like the end of one of our favorite movies, The Shawshank Redemption, where Morgan Freeman's elderly character utters this memorable quote while wistfully imaging a brighter sunset:

I find I'm so excited that I can barely sit still or hold a thought in my head. I think it's the excitement only a free man can feel. A free man at a start of a long journey whose conclusion is uncertain. I hope I can make it across the border. I hope to see my friend and shake his hand. I hope the pacific is as blue as it has been in my dreams. I hope. Click movie poster below to enlarge.

Below: Items that we have unloaded in the last year or two that we are going to miss, as well as a few trusty workhorses that we got rid of a few years further back. Here they are (in no particular order).

1991 Miata. We bought this 1991 Miata (built in September 1990, with 1990 being the first EVER year that the Miata was made by Mazda) from my Dad when he could no longer get in and out of it. We used it for a few years, then it became Andrew's car in high school and throughout his 4 years at UCDavis. We knew it was a death trap (2,200 pounds, about 2.5 feet off the ground) and it had to go when he graduated from Davis and took a job at Hulu in Santa Monica. He now drives a safer but definitely more boring Hyundai, but we feel better about Andrew driving a car with 6 air bags and weighs more than 3,300 pounds!

1979 Mako 21' Center Console with 200 Horsepower 1982 Mercury outboard. We are selling it this year, to be replaced by a 1997 26' Seaswirl Striper. In buying the Striper, our partnership goes from 3 guys (Tim, Anthony, Bill) to 4 guys (add Mark to the mix). Partners Rock! Favorite Mako photo: Tim and Andrew take the boat to Catalina for the first time in August, 2004. We have taken it to Catalina for 7 to 10 days nearly every summer since then. [Thanks to partner Bill for making the Mako happen!]

1997 Ford F350 Powerstroke Diesel 2WD Crew Cab Long Bed with Banks Power Pack, and 1996 Fleetwood Angler Camper (a two-fer). We bought the F350 in 2000 and the Angler a few months later, putting together our "Dream Camping Package". We ended up spending more than 180 days camping the Fleetwood, and used the truck to tow the Mako. The adventures were endless. We have replaced the truck with another diesel, this one a 2006 Dodge Cummins Diesel 4x4 Standard Cab Long Bed that only seats 3 people (2 comfortably) - the kids will have to find their own ride now! Favorite photo: Truck and Camper get snowed on in the Grand Canyon in January, 2004. We stayed at a South Rim campground - yes, we were the ONLY folks in the campground!

1997 Stray Puppy Dog Shayna. We got her as a stray that somebody brought into Sue's law firm one day. We believe that the dog finds you, and that's what happend. Her full name is Shayna Punim the Wonder Dog (Shayna Punim means Pretty Face in yiddish). Favorite photo: on the same Arizona trip as above, we stayed in a hotel one night and it was freezing cold, and Shayna had to stay in the camper (hotels didn't take dogs back then). It got down to about 15 degrees that night, and we wanted to make sure she stayed warm, so we wrapped her in a blanket a put Sue's fleece on her - she survived the freezing night!

1996 Toyota Landcruiser. Even Brian is getting into the act! With his fully tricked out 'Cruiser (roof rack, ARB lockers, rock sliders, 35" tires, winch, front and rear aftermarket bumpers, etc.), it was apparently time for the ol' gal to go. *****Update May 2013: Brian can't bear to part with the 1996 Landcruiser, so for now he is keeping both the old AND the new one. Favorite photo: legendary 'Cruiser from way back on that fateful day in Death Valley in 2004:

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