I haven't been on here much the last couple of days as I found out late Sunday night that a good friend of mine from one of the other car boards I frequent had passed away. 

Al had worked in the plant at GM Oshawa for 30 years and had just retired this spring. I had some spirited debates with Al as we were often at opposite ends of the political spectrum (he was a strong CAW supporter but also a very educated and wordly kind of guy) but it was always civil and there were never any hard feelings and the evening usually ended with hoisting a beer.  One thing we did share was our passion for Camaros (we both have 4th gens) and everything GM.  Al was a great source of info on the upcoming 5th gen, the progress of the plant change over, etc.  He also got me some of those small square GM emblems that adorn the lower front fenders of all the current models.  I may put them on the Laurentian.  I think they look cool and remind of the era when GM truly meant: "The Mark of Excellence".  Al was extremely proud of the fact that Oshawa consistently rated amongst the top plants in North America for quality.  It bodes well for the new Camaro.

He retired at the end of May and was doing what he wanted to and going on road trips with his wife such as Virginia Beach. He even took down his ATV so that he could do the beach. I was totally blown away when I heard of his passing after seven weeks of battling cancer but at least he went quick and didn't linger on for a couple of years and lose the battle while losing his quality of life. He was a great husband, father and friend and he will be missed. The line up to see him at the service yesterday was almost out the door so it shows what people thought of him.

I was hoping Al would stay at GM to help build my new Camaro and arrange for me to see it being built, which he graciously offered to do, but when he decided to retire and spend the time with his family and doing things he enjoyed, everyone supported that decision. It is so sad that he was only able to enjoy a few months of it.

He was diagnosed with esophagus cancer at the end of July and only received his first round of chemo 2 weeks ago before they realized that it was all the way down to his liver. I guess he wanted no one to know what he was going through. Only 7 short weeks from detection to strip a man of his life.  He was only 52.

I guess all of this is a long winded way of saying life can be short and brutally unfair, so make sure you get out and enjoy it while you can and don't let stupid things and silly arguments get in the way of that.



-- Edited by Astro Jet at 13:37, 2008-09-23