Her name was Tina and truth be told, I never had much interaction with her. But she was the loving partner of Rob whom I known for a long while now. Rob was (and he think he still is) this curmudgeon young whippersnapper who had the southern version of the Steppenwolf meets Florida Cracker pat down. His “I don’t give a fuck” attitude would rub many people the wrong way and some of us found it endearing as one would see a tiger cub playing with a dead rabbit: He is just what his nature intended him to be.
All of the sudden we found some microscopic bits of “niceness” in Rob’s attitude, very few and far between. Sort of like finding ice in the planet Mercury. For a while I was wondering what the hell was wrong with him till one day and by happenstance I bumped into him waiting for her where I used to work. She was a delightful charming young lady who was all smiles. As I shook her hand, I stole a glance over Rob and saw in his face a mixture of pride, love and embarrassment for feeling the way he felt about her and me finding out. I thought “This is good. Very Good. Apparently he is human after all.”
I might have seen Tina maybe four times after that but I saw Rob many times and the changes she made on him, all for good. So, even though we never shared what is traditional known as Friendship, somebody who loved so hard and cared so much for a friend will ever remain a friend of mine.
Rest In peace Tina.
A good woman makes us want to be better men (to steal a movie line from Jack Nicholson).
I lost my wife a year ago next week to lung cancer. Even though I don’t know Rob, my prayers go out to him and his family.
Condolences and prayers to all Miguel.