|
Montana Master
Join Date: Jul 2006
Location: K.C.
Posts: 11,731
M.O.C. #5980
|
A man I met
Tom was a very large man, years of sitting behind the wheel of a long haul tractor trailer with little or no exercise, fast foods and snacks always within reach, to cut the boredom of his trucking runs, took it’s toll on his health. He and Mitsy had their older 5th wheel parked here in Isla Blanca park, on beautiful South Padre Island.
I am gazing out my office window at his former space, just 80 or so feet away. I miss the big lug, he is on the road now with Mitsy in Louisiana, headed to Florida and the East coast.
I would walk and bike by his trailer, always greeting him and stopping to chat. Tom labored with a communication problem, he would try and cram his thoughts and ideas all at once into an often incoherent stream of laughs, and quick breaths. Half the time I would walk away wondering what he was trying to say. I washed my truck almost daily, Tom would walk over and start to chat, apologizing for interrupting, then leaving.
One day he was assembling a weight bench, I stopped to see if he needed any help, or tools, Tom Thanked me with another torrent of mumbles. I told him then, to take a deep breath, I sat down, and told him there wasn’t any hurry, I would sit and listen. I asked his travel and retirement plans, what he did for a living. I would stop him at times and ask him to explain better, to take his time.
I think Tom was so insecure and self conscious he thought he had nothing anyone would want to hear. This was not the case.
I showed Tom how he could use his computer for internet access with an air card, he bought one, and it opened up a whole new arena for him. He had no idea how to email, I set that up for him, he had his son and daughter’s email addresses in a small book he carried, his entire text to his daughter was ‘Finally’. I told Tom to at least ask how she was doing, tell her he was having fun on the Island, he said no, that was all he could think of.
I found out that Tom had been married five times, Mitsy was the fourth, she and Tom were friends now, just friends. Mitsy had been taking excursions into Mexico, leaving Tom alone here.
Through our long conversations we discussed the sailboat Tom bought on Ebay, sight unseen. He has it waiting back east.
I told Tom how that was my dream while working, to buy one and sail the intercostals, naturally ending up in Key West. My wife and I flew to Fort Lauderdale each Halloween for the Bahia Mar Boat show, strolling the gently swaying docks in the evening, smelling the Cuban food the vendors were selling, taking in all the sensory delights, the spotless white and beautiful wood trimmed boats, with their gleaming chrome accoutrements.
I loaded some sailing software for him that he had, showed him how to access it, along with lessons on surfing Ebay. He needed a marine GPS, so we did searches for one to fit his needs.
Tom and Mitsy left last week, I envy him on the next stage of his retirement life, he promised to keep in touch and let me live his sailing dream with him. I wish him happiness in it, he will be alone again for Mitsy will not be with him.
I hope he finds another friend, one who will take the time to listen.
|
Linear Mode
