For seven years I have been blogging stories about my riders at the end of the month and only one time did I write a separate blog about one rider. When a woman who works for The Kansas City Chiefs pulled out her super bowl ring, I had to write about her to thank her for her thoughtfulness and to emphasize how incredibly generous she was to give me that thrill. I sent her a copy of the blog.
For the past three years, I have been driving the below couple to and from the airport for them to visit their doctors each month in the Boston area to keep them in business. They are easily my most frequent riders with possibly 50-60 rides. They never did get a free ride, despite his pleadings. The deep cleaning of their teeth is very important to them and they enjoy experiencing the cold and snowy northeast compared to the warm sunny skies of their other place here in Myrtle Beach.
Pedro, pictured above, is not his real name. He has kept me and his wife, Susan, laughing throughout these rides. Calling my car an "old jalopy," or that I was, "pushing the weight limit in my vehicle," or that I had a "floozy and I should say hello for him," Pedro has had too many funny and wacky comments. He loved talking about how my wife and I did not have a television for five years here and he said, "It's un-American, even people in third world countries have tv's." He's a tv fanatic and in his honor when we move into our house this summer I'm going to officially name our tv, "Pedro." (not his real name)
On Saturday, April 12th, (almost 113 years after Fenway Park opened up-April 9, 1912 and two days before the Titanic sunk), I drove this couple home from the airport one last time. Half way through the trip, Pedro, and possibly some of the other personalities inside of him, started to ramble and left his wife Susan, calling out every few minutes, "My stomach hurts."
Here is what I have from the final ten minutes of laughing with them:
Pedro:(not his real name) "You and your wife, you're like criminals, you're moving every year. You're a fugitive, people are going to want to know what your crimes were. Can't wait until your kids find out you're fugitives. I might just turn you in if there's a reward."
He: "The reason you didn't have a TV for five years is that you didn't want to see yourself arrested on TV."
He said, "I'll pick you up from the airport in a pick-up truck with no seat and then I'll drive by you and not see you and charge you $4,000 for the ride."
"Keep running, don't get caught. If you do, I'll bail you out."
I was trying to drive and take notes. As we entered their development for the last time, I was as usual zig-zagging around the potholes. There were people in the neighborhood cheering us on by waving chocolate bars at us. You think I'm kidding, but they were trying to get us to stop and donate money to a local church. Pedro showed his support by saying, "Don't stop, just run them over."
When Joan Kennedy(mother to John, Robert and Ted among many others) turned 100 years old there was an article in Parade Magazine, which I think I still have. She was asked, "What are you most proud of in your life?" She said, "We always had laughter in our house."
Pedro and Susan will always have laughter in their lives and with their smiling faces hanging in my jalopy, laughter will always be around them there. Unsuspecting Coloradans will hear about the ramblings of a half demented, half hilarious, television crazed, really nice guy, who talks funny and lives that way too, while rooting for all the Boston sports teams.
Pedro, you have a lot more innings to pitch, can you stay out there pitching to my Yankees for a few more innings? (Grady said it was okay)
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