My Pal Bob

Not long after I took over managing the paratransit program at CCCTA (from which I retired in June 2010), I got a call one day from a gentleman at Rossmoor who asked  me if we could set up a van to take seniors from Rossmoor to the Trader Joe's in Lafayette once a month to go shopping.  I said I would meet him for lunch and we could talk about it. Over grilled cheese sandwiches in the little diner cross the street from Rossmoor, Bob Caplow and I hashed out a plan for a shopper's bus to Rossmoor one Sunday a month with fares that would be affordable.  Bob lost no time beating the bushes for sponsors to help pay for the service and putting out the sign up sheets for the "Rossmorians" to sign up.  Bob and I talked on the phone frequently and became friends.  I found out that he had been an east coast engineer for most of his life and had worked on the Manhattan Project (wow).  Bob and his wife Norma had lived at Rossmoor for about eight years at that time and they did not own  a car, taking the Rossmoor bus and County Connection buses everywhere, and for some doctor appointments, the ADA paratransit LINK.    After a couple of years of successful Trader Joe's shuttles, Bob let me know that his wife was ill and was going to Stanford Medical Center for treatment.  Not long after, Norma passed away.  I found out and attended her funeral, the first Jewish funeral I had ever attended.  It was sweet and Bob was absolutely shocked to see me there.    I walked with him down the hill from the service to where everyone was parked and gave him a big hug.

Bob turned over the shuttle to someone else but we continued to communicate from time to time via email.  Bob was an up to date guy who knew his way around a computer.  One day he sent me a little video clip of a song his grandson had written and was singing accompanied by his guitar -- Don't Worry, be Caplow"  It was so evident from that video that Bob was well loved by his kids and grand kids, and had been all his life.

When I retired, Bob was one of the people to whom I sent my home email address. Keep in mind that we had only met each other face to face TWICE during this time.  Bob turned 90 in 2010, and his kids threw him a big party.  Bob met a lady he calls a "JAP who is not a JAP" (Jewish American Princess) and they became companions.  She is 87.

A couple of months ago Bob emailed me that he was undergoing treatments for prostate cancer.  He asked if he could call me in the event that he was unable to book a ride for his cancer treatments, saying that he mostly took LINK and the volunteer drivers from the American Cancer Society.   I emailed back and said OF COURSE I could take him, and wouldn't it be lovely to have lunch, too?

It turned out that Bob needed a ride on July 29, so we arranged a meeting place at the Rossmoor Clubhouse, and went out for a delightful lunch.  A new bistro had recently opened up at Rossmoor that was pretty darn swanky and had very good food -- no institutional bland chicken breasts and rice for these active seniors!!!  Around us, groups of  silvered haired ladies celebrated birthdays, and grandparents ate lunch with their grown grandchildren, while Bob told me more tales of his youth and adventures.   We both agreed that life was pretty darned good and we were pretty darned lucky!!!!

AT the clinic, all of the nurses and office ladies knew Bob, and he brought gifts of fruit for them all.  While he had his treatment, I read a National Geographic (I completely love NG but have never subscribed myself).  When Bob came out, he asked the receptionist to take our picture, so here it is:

I sure hope I get to have many more lunches with my buddy Bob in Walnut Creek.