Freddy and Jane on one of their recent adventures.
My post on FaceBook:
I was only 19 years old when I first met Freddy. As a confirmed introvert who preferred being a wallflower I met this guy who was confident and outgoing. At first he seemed “dangerous”, but it was soon apparent that I was mistaking dangerous for “daring”.
Our friendship, lasting 50 years, ended Friday May 3rd when Freddy left behind this physical world for the Next Great Adventure. It was one week ago today (Saturday April 27) that I spoke with Freddy and Jane in the ICU. Freddy was on oxygen but was coherent as we spoke. We discussed the trip Debbie and I were making in 2 days to Tybee Island. I also told him that I was composing a piece of ambient music for him. “It’s almost finished”, I told him.He said he was interested in hearing it when I got it finished. I told him he was going to be all right and that I loved him. He reciprocated with “I love you man”.
If I listed all of the small building blocks of my life that came into being exclusively because of Freddy it would take a while. Just a few: he taught me how to eat raw oysters, he taught me how to cook a steak on a grill, he introduced me to a broad palette of fine Kentucky bourbons, he was the first to put a cigar in my mouth (a cigar made in a small country South of here) and light it, he was the first person (that I knew of my age) who owned stock, he was the first to introduce me to the joys of hot peppers (there’s a great story behind that one).
If you knew Freddy from way back then, you knew he was one of the strongest people you’d ever meet. I still remember helping him move furniture on to a rental truck once. There were two of us on one end of this gigantic piece of furniture and we were about to die! He held up the opposite end with just one hand.
Freddy taught me a number of life lessons and one of them was the importance of having a generous spirit. He was a generous man and his example shaped me to a certain degree. While I never achieved his level of benevolence, he did push my needle in the correct direction.
In many ways Freddy was “bigger than life”, and one way I was reminded of that was when we hugged. Whether it was a greeting or a departure there was no better hug than a Freddy hug. It was like hugging and being hugged by Mount Everest and a benevolent bear at the same time. This I will miss.
The four of us travelled on the only cruise ship I’ve ever sailed on, Holland America’s Westerdam. This was an Alaskan cruise and it was a total blast. Being there with Debbie, Jane and Freddy made the trip perfect.
His love for his wife, children and grandchildren was absolute. We grew up with their kids and watched them mature into responsible adults. An untimely accident took Joshua’s life and while it altered the family landscape forever, this beautiful family carried on buoyed by their faith in God. Their daughter Loriahn has two sons and a daughter. Freddy and Jane loved being grandparents to those three.
This could carry on forever, but I’ll bring it to a close for now. Please pray for Jane, Loriahn, Eddie and the grandkids as they navigate these trying waters. May their memories of Freddy be a comfort to them during this season of grief.
Freddy will always reside in my heart and in my mind.
A link to the almost finished piece of music, called simply “C F E”, (after Freddy’s initials), can be found in the comments.
https://on.soundcloud.com/bfMCErybdKJNzdQ59
