A name popped into my head a few days ago and I turned to the web to look for information about Bob, a musician I hadn't seen for many years. When I'd first met him almost two decades ago he'd been married multiple times and was renting a room from a friend. He was separating or had just been divorced again and, as a result of multiple alimony payments, always short of cash.
He said that he'd meet woman who seemed fine, but after marrying them, they turned into castrating bitches. I repeated his comment to my mother, who replied, "Maybe he's comfortable with that type."
After Bob told my friend that he felt that every date should have a real possibility of the two of them ending up in bed together, my friend, who was in her 80's, dubbed him "Hey Bob-a-Ree-Bob". I don't claim to understand why, but the term seemed appropriate.
When I last saw Bob, perhaps in the early 90's, he was getting getting married again. My friend, who'd gotten the blow-by-blow account of the courtship told me that as the nuptials got closer both Bob and Betsy, his intended, admitted to being older than they originally claimed. At the time I was surprised that I wasn't surprised or even cynical about it. Bob must have been in his early or mid 50's and Betsy in her 40's.
Betsy was a computer programmer and was teaching Bob about programming. (I remember Bob being enthusing about using fractals in programming.)
It turned out he had a web site. He'd had a stroke in 1999. As part of his recovery he worked on web pages, picking the letters out one at a time, which show the effects of the aphasia:
He said that he'd meet woman who seemed fine, but after marrying them, they turned into castrating bitches. I repeated his comment to my mother, who replied, "Maybe he's comfortable with that type."
After Bob told my friend that he felt that every date should have a real possibility of the two of them ending up in bed together, my friend, who was in her 80's, dubbed him "Hey Bob-a-Ree-Bob". I don't claim to understand why, but the term seemed appropriate.
When I last saw Bob, perhaps in the early 90's, he was getting getting married again. My friend, who'd gotten the blow-by-blow account of the courtship told me that as the nuptials got closer both Bob and Betsy, his intended, admitted to being older than they originally claimed. At the time I was surprised that I wasn't surprised or even cynical about it. Bob must have been in his early or mid 50's and Betsy in her 40's.
Betsy was a computer programmer and was teaching Bob about programming. (I remember Bob being enthusing about using fractals in programming.)
It turned out he had a web site. He'd had a stroke in 1999. As part of his recovery he worked on web pages, picking the letters out one at a time, which show the effects of the aphasia:
and posted pictures of his notebooks to show how his handwriting was affected.
He seemed to have recovered enough so that a year and a half later he lead a big band at a gala celebration for Beverly Sills. There were links to an English Springer Spaniel Rescue organization, site survey for property upstate New York, and pages about his living in Mexico.
The web site has a script which makes each page appear to be updated when viewed. Broken links made it clear that the site wasn't being maintained.
I sent him a "hi-how-are-you" note, which bounced back the next day.
More searching and I found a Requiem announcement that he'd died in 2006. The same page also listed "Michael L. Brecker - Saxophone".
Rest in peace Bob.
