RIP, Chef Guy

[bunchofgrapes]

So this morning I woke up to the brief sound of a siren and then the distinct sound of idling big truck engines outside and I get up to look because I know that sound. Sure enough I look outside to see a ladder truck. And three ambulances. And three cop cars. They take a couple of stretchers out of one of the buses and take them to the townhouse kind of in front of mine (the front of my house looks out at their front yard/door). There's lots of activity (emergency people going in and out of the house) but I eventually lose interest because the cats haven't been fed and I haven't had breakfast or coffee and food/coffee is always more important.

Fast forward to about an hour later and I notice the cops are still hanging around. I'm thinking maybe they are giving the family grief about having three families in the house (they are Latino and that's pretty common around here) and go about my business.

Fast forward to a couple of hours later and I notice an EMT come out to meet a black Chevy SUV, which has backed up towards the house. Then it all clicks. Someone died and this is the coroner. Yup. They wheel a bed in and take out a covered body. I knew immediately who had passed away...

As I mentioned, there are three fairly young families living in the townhouse (it's a very large townhouse). They all moved in around August 2011 and are very nice people. One of the men was a chef someplace - used to see him coming and going in his white chef jacket. Unfortunately, I never knew his name so to me he was always "Chef Guy". Whenever I saw Chef Guy, he always smiled and waved. Always.

Well, I didn't see Chef Guy for a while and then the next time I did, he did not look good. Time passed and when I saw him again, it was obvious he was going through chemo. A few months later, when I saw him again, he had what honestly looked like a bowling ball in his belly. It was very distended and grotesquely large and he looked like he was in quite a bit of pain as he shuffled from the car to the house. I was out doing yard work one afternoon while Joe, one of the other guys, was talking to another Latino neighbor in Spanish. I couldn't understand what they were saying but I did understand the word, cancer and I'm guessing they are talking about Chef Guy because it makes sense. Every time I saw him, he looked worse and worse and then I never saw him again. But I always wondered how he was doing. I knew immediately he was the one who passed away because even though they covered the body, the very distended stomach was very obvious.

RIP, Chef Guy. I'll miss your smile and wave.

Comments

[airforce-chic.livejournal.com]

Oh, how I miss your awesome stories and writing. I managed to find my password and was able to log in again. Hope all is well with you! Still in Maryland, but single now (well, as of last Friday evening).