It's kind of strange to think Bill is one of the people, not related to me, that I have known for so long. I met him when I was twelve years old and his family moved next door to mine. He had just graduated high school when they moved from California to Washington.
Life doing what it does means that our families still live next door to each other. Pat has Mom's house and Bill had Dolores's house. So, there has always been a neighbor connection. Since I moved back into Pat's house I have had many porch conversations with Bill. Seems to be the place to talk. When we were much younger, we talked on the electric box, so outside is kind of our thing. We had a lot of commonalities and a lot of differences of opinion, but we were neighbors.
Bill was a veteran who spent many years in the reserves after his military service. He became a nurse and spent 33 years working for Multnomah County in the jail. He was proud of his job. He liked cars and guitars and music (obviously). He always had a pet with the last one being Clint, a big grey cat.
The funniest story I have is this. Pat got a cat he named Keanu. Keanu is indoor/outdoor. After he was a full-grown cat, he started staying away for a couple of days at a time. And then he would turn up. And then he would do it again. Over and over and over. We just accepted it was part of Keanu's personality. He needed more than one home. One day Bill was out on the porch, and I asked if he seen our boy. He got real sheepish and told me Keanu was in the house taking a nap on the couch and that Clint thinks Keanu is his little brother. I'm like, okay then. I almost offered to provide food but changed my mind. If Bill wanted his house to be one of Keanu's homes, he could be responsible for what Keanu ate at his house. Later I found out that his girlfriend Sue had told him he probably shouldn't be letting Keanu in, but he was sure it was fine.
Bill ended up in the hospital a couple of months ago and asked for me to feed Clint. I hadn't seen Keanu in a couple of days, so I was sure he was in Bill's house. Bill was pretty sure he wasn't but told me I could come to Sunnyside and get his key, but I would have to bring the key back. I waited a day and was trying to figure out how to work it out, when Keanu came strutting up. That is when I knew Keanu had at least three homes. Silly boy. I appreciated that Bill and Clint loved him almost as much as we did.
So last week Bill called me to ask me to take care of Clint. He was going to the hospital. I had a feeling. Was not overly surprised when Sue turned up a couple of days later and let us know that Bill had died. Life throws curveballs like that. Bill had just retired. He was planning a trip back east after his planned surgery. What I know is he is no longer in pain and can breathe.
Good-bye my friend. Light and love on the next part of the journey.
