One year gone–we still miss you Bob

 This post is coming a day late but it took me some time to try to get it right, I still do not have it right (I wish I were a better wordsmith) but here goes. One year ago yesterday, November 15th, my stepfather Bob passed on suddenly after a long, bravely fought battle with Parkinson’s disease.

  This is what I wrote one year ago while still struggling with the loss of one of the greatest people I have even known:

Sunday evening my family suffered a great loss and we are all still coming to terms with it. My Mom was watching the Patriots game with us when she got the call–my stepfather, Bob, passed away suddenly.

  Bob had been suffering from Parkinson’s disease for many years and he fought bravely but now his suffering is over. Parkinson’s is a horrible disease, watching what it did to Bob over the years was heartbreaking but we all remember Bob as he was, and he was one of the kindest, gentlest, and caring people I have ever known. There is nothing Bob would not do for anyone and there is nobody who ever met him who had a bad word to say about him. 

  I still remember meeting Bob for the first time–me and my brother and sister were outside playing when my Mom introduced us. I think it is safe to say we all liked him immediately, although we had no idea he would someday be a member of the family. 

  That Summer Bob and my Mom rented a custom van and we took a vacation to Lake Winnipesaukee where he taught us all how to water ski. That lake became a very special place for our family and eventually we had a condo on the lake. We had so many great times there!

  Bob loved the water, he grew up on it and at one time was actually offered a job in Florida as a professional water skier, and even after the condo was sold we always had a Summer camp on the water. I remember all those days fondly.

  Bob was the master of the corny joke and he loved to repeat them whenever he had a chance: one of the jokes I remember the most has to do with my singing. I always loved to sing but those who know me know that I have probably the worst singing voice in the history of mankind, but Bob always got a kick out of my singing and he loved to tell people that I was a rock singer because when I sang people threw rocks at me. My wife and I were married on Bob’s 55th birthday and I decided to surprise him by getting up on stage and singing Happy Birthday to him. I am chuckling now as I think about it…

  We all knew this day was coming but still it was unexpected because it happened so quickly. Bob was having a good day, in typical Bob fashion he was joking with the other residents and the nurses when he suddenly drew a breath and let go. It is a relief to know he did not suffer and it was not drawn out but it is still hard to believe he is gone.

  I could go on and on about Bob and still never do him justice and honestly I cannot come up with the words to describe him and what he meant to me accurately. Goodbye Bob, I will love you and miss you forever but you will live on in my heart.

    Bob truly was a person who did not have a vindictive or unkind bone in his body and we would all be better people if we could live up to the example he set for us. Even now words escape me and I am sobbing as I write this, and I still cannot describe to you what he meant to me accurately,  but I will say this: he had a smile that was contagious and just knowing him has made me a better person.

  We still miss you Bob and will never forget the impact you had on our lives.

  The title of this post was inspired by Led Zeppelin’s song “Ten Years Gone” and back when I was a teenager and dating my soon to be wife I was a huge Zeppelin fan, my taste in music has since changed but the impact Bob had on my  life will never change.