#captain rich

I got in to job#2 today after a month of job#1. Usual routine, go to clock in. By the timeclock is a table where usually birthday cards and pens rest, waiting for signatures and well wishes. But today there was a small vase of flowers, a photograph from last summer, and a printed obituary, dated last week. A captain who last year was diagnosed with cancer and the crew had done a blood drive for him, who occasionally had to go back to the hospital for treatments and tests. A man who was always kind and supportive of everyone he worked with, who let you know when you were on the right path and pointed you towards any tools he could provide. And yeah, part of my reaction was likely shock- Welcome back, Captain Rich is dead. But he was Good in word and deed, and we feel the loss of him more than paying homage with photos of him at every boat's can ever hope to reach. He was waiting on a transplant; it will go to someone else who needs it now. He's not sick any more.