Mixing business with pleasure

I won’t go. Who wants to go away with competitors on a trip? That was my attitude decades ago and we did not participate in supply house incentive trips despite having qualified for the trips. Then one day, a representative of a supply house dropped in and handed Lois an envelope.  In it were our tickets for the Alaskan cruise – how could we say no. The trip was a blast and we made many new lifelong friends with the same folks we compete against. Among them were Tom and Rita Henry (www.wilburhenry.com). Tom is, to put it mildly, a laugh-riot, character, and puts a smile on your face just by being present. You can rest assured your time together will not be dull. Rita is a sweetheart and grounds Tom in reality.

Fast-forward several decades. After this grueling winter, Lois and I were looking forward to the APR (www.aprsupply.com) trip to Sandals in Jamaica. We met up with Wendy Knaub (www.travelbywendy.net) who has been our trusted guide on almost every trip.  We asked Wendy who was on the roster anticipating fun times with old friends only to be told: none of the old guard, you probably won’t know anyone. Wait! What? When did we become the Old Guard? A younger couple entered the airport hotel lobby, stopped and looked our way, and introduced themselves. David and Crystal Henry (Tom’s and Rita’s son.) and we should have known because he had the same mischievous twinkle in his eyes as his father. New old friends!

At Sandals, they have a Thai restaurant where you need reservations. We were told to sign up as soon as we arrived and made reservations for Tuesday evening with David & Crystal. Their room was up one level and over one from ours and we saw them relaxing on their balcony Monday late afternoon. “So, what did you two do today?”, we asked. Nothing, just hung out here and enjoyed each other’s company all day. With three children back home, this was an opportunity to relax and recharge their batteries.

At dinner Tuesday night, David explained he was the lead tech in the field and Crystal is the office manager. Father Tom is ready to retire, so they both had lots of questions since Lois is our office manager and I transitioned from turning wrenches to managing the business, doing estimating, and all facets of running the business way back in 85.

We were having such a great time together, we lost track of time until we realized everyone else had left the restaurant long ago.

Funny how many memories the ensuing conversation dragged up and I’d forgotten my struggles with making that transition. It’s not easy to let go because you love working with your hands, installing new fixtures or repairing faucets/toilets and no one is going to do things exactly as you do, which can be difficult to accept. How had Lois and I managed to work closely together all these years without going crazy? I just do what I’m told – my standard lie reply. Lois is fond of saying all I do is drive around. Truth be told, it is a strain at times because you both can’t avoid bringing home the day’s trials and tribulations and that you need to face head-on. Crystal and Lois held court too talking about billing, collections, and what fun it is dealing with tough customers. David joked about how he’d probably have to kick Tom out of the office, but said his dad planned on helping with the estimating. We traded war stories and laughed until we all had tears in our eyes. We were having such a great time together, we lost track of time until we realized everyone else had left the restaurant long ago. Wait staff was giving us the look. We headed back and said our goodnights.

The next day, our last full day in Jamaica, we were coming back from lunch when another couple informed us that while playing beach volleyball, David had a massive heart attach and died. He was just 49-years-young with no prior heart issues. Our entire group went from R&R mode to whatever we could do to support Crystal. Our APR hosts and wives, Wendy and her husband, and the manager of Sandals accompanied Crystal to the hospital, Jamaican authorities, police, and the American Consulate. After they returned, we shuttled food and offered to help in any way possible.

The next day, Thursday, was travel back home. Tom, Rita, and other family members met Crystal at the airport and we all had a chance to get together, share hugs, and tears.

David’s celebration of life gathering the following week was standing room only with more than a few who were on the trip being present as well as lots of fellow mechanical contractors. Wilbur, his grandfather, the founder of the business now in his 90’s, shared his birthday date with David, and, I remembered David telling us how much he loved sharing birthdays with his grandfather.  It is said that you never really die so long as others remember you and David will live on in our memories as someone we bonded with immediately and came to know as a great friend.    

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