Bob Gaastra (Lightning)

As soon as I had finished writing the previous blog post, I went to e-mail and discovered some incredibly bad news. My friend, Bob Gaastra, otherwise known as "Lightning" passed away August 7.

Bob had MS and had been confined to a wheelchair most of his adult life. He had a biting humor; a unique voice that was imitated with affection; was an avid baseball fan (we made numerous trades in our rotisserie league) and was a very good friend. There are friends of mine who were closer and had known Bob longer, and for them I feel especially saddened.

Thanks for being my friend, Bob.