At the end of February our former neighbor, Bob, passed away. His wife had the arduous challenge of packing up the house in order to move shortly afterwards. Nearly fifty years of life was there. It only made sense to postpone a celebration of Bob’s life until after the move.

Today my wife, middle child and I went to his service. Since Bob was a pilot, the Celebration was held at Langley Airport Museum. A fitting place for his family and friends to come together and share stories of his life. It was also a non-service type of service. There were no speeches or religious prayers. Just a bunch of people mingling.

I thought I knew a lot about Bob from the years of living across the street from him. He had shared numerous stories with me of his follies as a pilot prior to his retirement. I found out today that Bob’s original hanger is now the Museum of Flight.

I knew Bob was creative with metalworking and had created numerous art pieces. But I also learned Bob was a poet and enjoyed writing. Some of which was shared today. Bob was a great character and touched many people’s lives. I appreciated when he showed up at our place a couple years ago at 2am to help put the power line back up before hydro showed up. I also appreciated the logs he had brought over for us to use to heat our home.

I had a few opportunities to just sit and talk with Bob while we sat in his yard. He was always willing to share a story and was ready to help out when needed. A great man who made the world a good place to be in. I’m glad that his life meant so much to so many people. I hope one day that I too have reached out and created connections like that.