nonskedfredswife43

QUOTE "Thanks Don for posting your list of fascinating and some forgotten journeys that Fred took. I am no longer married to Fred but I am a very dear friend and spoke to him 5 weeks ago before he passed. Always the entertainer laid back to the point of sometimes having to put a mirror over his mouth when he was in the left seat! Fred was one of a kind. during the Khadaffi' time he used to tell me stories that only someone in the line of business you and he were in could believe. later on at Southern with Buzz Sawyer and his tragic death things got serious and the whole Iran Contra thing transpired. St. Lucia and Tepper I went along as "unofficial load mistress" and sat on the bunk behind the right seat and was fascinated by all that went on. Then just when I was getting comfortable I would be deposited in some Island in the Carribean or the closest place where they could dump me to their final destination. Then I was instructed to appear on the runway on a certain date and hang around. I did that often and just as I would be about to give up and leave I heard that familiar sound of Juicy Lucy or whichever C-130 with was coming in and proceeding to land on a very short runway and stop at my feet just like the movies. Once I was inside, off we went and I could not wait until I was invited to join them again. It was difficult being married to someone in the business non-scheduled. I never knew when we would be alone or if we would be joined again. It takes a certain kind of woman to be that easy going. Of course at that time Vodka was becoming a great best friend and lonely hours looking at thousands of pics of trips gone by were enjoyed. When Fred was home It was not like our lives were crazy running around here and there. It was quite the opposite with us. Fred liked to stay home and talk to his buddies and line things up and read the papers and have expectations if things looked like they needed help in places that I can't spell. And then the day of departure. He trusted me and told me a lot. But I have to admit that Fred was married to his work and the people especially Tepper and Transafrik crews which I regarded as my family were like his kids. Later on things got kinda weird jobs seemed scarce Fred was clearly not happy and completely out of his comfort zone. Eventually this changed and he was off again to somewhere I would rather not mention. somewhere which in my view, our marriage seemed to come to an end…….Fred and I decided to part company, I never did remarry and we were still good friends. He remarried Rinah and brought her to America and they spent their time in Florida. I spoke to him lots of times after that. We laughed about stuff that we had done together and when Matt called me and told me that Fred has passed, I was sad and still am. There are certain kinds of men that do what he did. I was fascinated and loved the excitement. I did not think my life was any fun for a long time after that. Then one day I woke up and realized I had joined the real world and I fit in and things started to fall into place. Fred will be forever in my heart and I wish his wife Rinah a happy and painless recovery from her loss of him. We are all 6 degrees. never to be forgotten. Hats off to Fred he was a kind man with very little resentment and lots of acceptance. HelsK{/QUOTE}