Throughout my recent trip to Tahiti, Australia and New Zealand, I thought about Bart quite a bit. His birthday would have been on 1 December and on 11 December he passed away a year ago, so naturally I remembered him on those days.
But even before that he had been on my mind as Pam and I negotiated our way thru the airports to get to where we needed to be. I thought of Bart because I was reminded of the following story he told me.
After an operation on his leg, Bart and his wife Gina made a trip to Peru. When they returned from the trip, Bart told me how Gina had arranged for wheelchair assistance for him at all the airports they hit on their way to Peru. Bart being Bart said that at first he had told Gina that he did not need nor want any “wheelchair assistance” but she booked it anyway. “Know what?” Bart said when he got back home and told me about it “It was kinda sweet because everywhere I went, they took good care of me. I thanked Gina for doing it.”
So when Pam informed me that she had arranged airport assistance for me with my broken and booted foot, like Bart, I initially told her that I didn’t need nor want it. But also like Bart, I later learned that the assistance package was a pretty good deal.
The airport folks let us board the plane first along with “those passengers with small children and those needing assistance can now board” announcement. They also assigned me a bulkhead seat where I could stretch my leg/foot out. And just before the flight(s) landed, a flight attended would contact me to see if I needed a wheel chair to help me out the jetway and thru the terminal. As Bart concluded, having the assistance made things a lot easier travel-wise.
I then thought of Bart on 11 December when I saw that Brian posted the following on FB:
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| Herbie, Pat and Pam, Sam, Gina, Capt. Jerry, Pat, BJ |
Sometime before I left on my trip, Gina had sent me a message that she wanted to do something in memory of Bart at the Store on 11 December. I let her know that even though I wasn’t going to be here on that date, she was welcomed to do anything she wanted to at the Store.
Turns out she did a lot. From everyone I’ve heard from, Gina and her sons Arturo and Cesar had a very nice memory celebration in honor of Bart. I am truly sorry that I missed it but I know that Bart was smiling from wherever he is right now. (The idea of him and Buzzy somewhere together viewing various proceedings at the Store always amuses me.)