On this day that we say farewell for now to Bob Farrington, I’d like to complete my daily stories about Bob with his favorite story (and mine), bar none, that involved me. It was the night of October 1, 1982, when Rambling Willie won at Quad City Downs. Bob, as you might recall from my earlier story about that night, was in a playful mood. I was walking Bob & Viv to their car, when suddenly, Bob says to me, “You young kids think you know everything that goes on, but you don’t!” I said, “What do you mean?” He replied, “Like what goes on on the backstretch.” I said, “Bob, you may not know this, but I worked at Hollywood Park in 1978 for Ray Gillilan. Granted it was only for ten days (came home to graduate high school), but I know what to do!” He says, “Okay, how do you muck a stall?” I answered, “Well, you get a pitchfork, and a big bucket, and you put it by the stall door. Then you get the poop and put it in the bucket. Then you try and get as much of the straw that has the urine on it, and put that in the bucket too.” He says, “Then what do you do?” I replied, “Well, you kind of move all the straw away from where the urine was, where it’s still very wet, and you leave it alone for a little while to get rid of the smell, while letting it dry up some. Bob says, “What comes next?” I said, “Then you get that powder and you sprinkle it all around on the urine.” Bob barks, “YOU SPRINKLE WHAT?” “Powder,” I respond. Bob exclaims, “POWDER IS WHAT YOU PUT ON A BABYS ASS, THAT’S LIME!” Let me tell you, I have since told that story many times by request from Bob, probably 50 times since then. And Bob laughed harder each time I told it. It was a priceless story, with a priceless laughing reaction from him - - especially since I would imitate him when doing his lines. Boy, he sure did love that story! And now we say farewell to this gem of a man. A man I loved like a father. A man who treated me like a son. I will forever be grateful that I was a part of his life. And if there is life after death, I know we will meet up again. I wanted to play a song at the end of this post that would sum up Bob, and his passing. I listened to many songs on Sunday night. However, no matter how many I listened to, I kept coming back to the song below, that said it all, to no ones surprise. In closing, as Bob settles into his eternal life, in the hands of his mother Francis, and his father, Louis. I wish to post a beautiful passage that I recently heard at Hoosier Park for the Rosie Harness Memorial. I have changed the words around just a bit, but it really hits home. God saw that you were getting tired and pain too much to endure. So he put his arms around you and whispered come with me. A golden heart stopped beating, with hard working hands to rest. God broke our hearts, to prove to us, he only takes the best. We cant believe this happened, and well miss you every day, but Rest in Peace Red Man, as we are left to try to find our way. God bless your wonderful soul my dear friend, I will forever miss you!
Posted on: Mon, 20 Oct 2014 10:33:37 +0000
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