Bob was the
chief speechwriter for the Prime Minister of Canada. He
could talk for hours about his experiences and he would
listen to mine. Both of us had equally dry, sarcastic senses
of humor. I still remember the time that he told me that for
each major policy speech he would prepare two speeches… and
when it was time for the speech... the prime minister would
tell Bob what he wanted to accomplish and leave the choice
of the speech up to Bob.
Bob and Janet met through work as Janet
worked in Ottawa in the same office. They were married a few
years before they both retired and moved to Costa Rica. They
made each other laugh and they were starting the first leg
of their retirement together. And they were thoroughly
enjoying themselves and that alone was a treat.
They moved to Costa
Rica and initially rented in Grecia. We didn’t spend as much
time together as we first did, but whenever we did get
together it was as if time had never passed.
Then Bob was diagnosed with ALS … Lou
Gehrig’s disease.
With us … Bob never talked about the disease…
but it progressed quickly.
The last time we saw them, we laughed as much
as ever but Janet had to feed Bob (she had cooked us the
spaghetti dinner that she had always threatened to do) and
Bob had trouble swallowing. At the end of the evening, we
hugged and told each other “we love you.”
Rhonda and I
cried on the way home. And shortly after that they left to
return to Canada… and contact became more sporadic. And Bob
died last year.
And when Janet called, she said she wanted us
to rent or sell the house they had purchased in Grecia for
investment. She told me that Bob told her not to let anyone
else handle the transaction except me… he told her that he
knew from the first time we met that he could trust me
without reservation.
And when she told me this, in our coffee
shop, I cried… because I never cried when he died… because I
didn’t know when it happened.
Bob was one of the best friends I ever had…
even though our friendship was one of the most shortlived.
And it is another reason why I love being here… because
Costa Rica was responsible for us meeting. And there are no
such things as coincidences.
Goodbye, Bob. And thanks for being my friend.
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