“Goodbye.”
Though there are wonderful lyrics to this song (and for those, I commend to you Sinatra’s delicate turn from his album, “Frank Sinatra Sings for Only the Lonely”), imagine instead the instrumental version of Gordon Jenkins’ melancholy composition (particularly as performed by Benny Goodman as his signature closing theme).
The connection to this tune today is to honor the memory of a man who left us yesterday, a hard-working man of quiet dignity. His name was Luis Chicas and for the last two and half decades, he was our dedicated gardener and helped Lulu maintain the beauty of her verdant sanctuary. A diminutive gentleman with strong will and determination, his life was not an easy one. Rising early every morning to begin the rounds of his clients, he worked late into the afternoon only to begin again the next morning. Lulu knew the value of greeting Luis with a morning cup of coffee and a piece of toast — we could share a nice chat and though there was a bit of a language barrier, she could always practice her Spanish.
We are fortunate to live in a pretty good neighborhood, but one day, while Luis was busy with his duties in our backyard, someone stole the tools of his trade from the bed of his truck out front. No caring human being could have remained unmoved to see the look on Luis’ face as he feared for his very way of life. He had no savings, no insurance, but luckily, we were in a position to help him and off we went to the hardware store. Though he had been a steady presence every Thursday morning, from that time on, he was like a member of the family . . . yesterday, we lost a member of our family.