Farewell, our friend

A while ago, friends who run a similar kind of business and work closely with us, asked whether we'd be willing to take over theirs so they can retire.

It's not that hubby was looking for even more responsibility and more work, but he wanted to help them out, and while the location of this business is a pain to get to, it's also one of the most gorgeous places in Switzerland.

Hubby and his former business partner's son visited to discuss this takeover in early 2022. Can you spot the iconic mountain in the background? That's the location of their business!

Let's zoom in on that mountain - yes, it's the Matterhorn in Zermatt, Switzerland! 

Let's talk about why it's a pain to get there:

It's located in the Alps, like really remote. From where we live, we drive for 2.5 to 3 hours to Kandersteg, where there is this thing we call "Autoverlad" - a car shuttle train, and it is exactly what the name says: you load your car onto a train that will take you through a tunnel to the other side in 15 minutes. Depending on the weekday and the season they run fairly regularly. A one way ticket for a regular car is CHF 25, about the same in USD.

It looks like fun as long as you're in broad daylight, but wait till you enter the tunnel. Creeeeepy!

Arriving at Goppenstein, you will drive for another hour. When you finally make it to the Park and Ride in Täsch, you may just about miss the train and have to wait for 20 minutes for the next one. Once you board it, it only takes 11 more minutes until you arrive!

Zermatt is completely car-free. The only vehicles you can see on the village streets are horse carriages (as tourist attractions, not for some Amish reasons) and electromobiles. Actually you have to be very careful not to be hit by one, some of them drive like a bat out of hell. 

So all in all it may take you a good 5 hours per way.

Back to our friends.

Last Christmas they had Covid from which he didn’t seem to recover. He was short of breath and kept coughing. Turned out he had lstomach cancer. Went and got chemo. Felt better, returned to work against doctor’s orders though. 

Mid-October we signed the acquisition and sent our young guy to learn and work in his new mountain home.

Look how happy they were!

Late October our friend felt crappy, went back to the doc to learn he had now metastases on his liver. Got more chemo and radiation, which made him feel very weak.

When all was said and done, we learned that he ended up having metastases in his brain, too, 

On Christmas he peacefully went to the other side.

We are devastated. The last time we saw each other in November, he seemed fine. He has the firmest handshake you can imagine, and he has the brightest smile and a no bullshit look. You probably wouldn't want to mess with him, but his cheerful and down to earth attitude make it easy to get along.

It's hard to imagine that all his energy and full of life persona has literally dissolved. 

Apparently in the days leading up to Christmas he wasn't able to walk and talk anymore. And he still believed he could make it, his wife says.

As I'm writing this, his funeral takes place. 

I couldn't go since Colin has a game later today.

I'm listening to Adagio (video above) and Ave Maria over and over.

It's not fair. He could have had many more could years. He's been working is butt off and was finally getting some time to himself to travel and enjoy life. 

A movie scene flashes before my eyes - can you guess which movie it is:

Cemetery, father and son staring at casket. "Mommy got sick and died. There was nothing anybody could do. It isn't fair. There's no reason. But if we start asking why, we'll go crazy."

So let's not ask why and try to cope.

Tomorrow is not promised. We tend to forget that. Running around like headless chickens, trying to get done a million unimportant things keep us from focussing on what we want out of life.

Coincidence or not - I had this in my Facebook memories today. Values to live by: