Helpful Friends

I will always be grateful to the many friends who reached out and gave a helping hand after Mac’s death. So many little nuisances cropped up on a daily basis, making me increasingly aware that I had to learn how to cope with them on my own! The very thought of dealing with clogged drains, malfunctioning equipment and dying plants was daunting, and I often cried with frustration when my efforts seemed wasted. I knew that the added stress to my life would ease with time (at least I HOPED it would!), but I sure missed Mac!

Bob Berlinghof was the first friend to step forward to lend a hand. Shortly after the funeral, he approached me and offered to remove Mac’s clothing from the house. The thought of Mac’s personal belongings being taken away hit me like a hammer, and my first impulse was to tell Bob to leave everything exactly where it was! I liked being able to smell Mac’s clothes hanging in the dressing room, perhaps it wasn’t healthy to spend time sniffing his shirts, but it gave me a measure of comfort on bad days. Bob was gentle but persistent, and one day he, along with a few of Mac’s friends, gathered up the clothing, leaving an empty gap where Mac’s scent had lingered. I never asked Bob what he did with the clothing, hopefully it was put to good use.

Mac’s brother Nolly offered to dig a better well for the Pizzeria, and have a new pump installed. The old pump had been given to Papa Mitchie shortly before Mac went to flying school, and it had never been replaced. This meant the toilet was being flushed with fresh water instead of brackish, and with the Island in drought each flush was literally money down the drain. Nolly oversaw the project, and Nik, along with his crew from the tugboat Stratmann, put the massive culverts in place. I was very appreciative, and also relieved; with a deeper well and a new pump I didn’t have to buy precious fresh water as often, and no longer cringed each time I heard the toilet being flushed!

Kelly Glass, a good friend of Mac’s, helped me too.  Kelly had attended flight school with Mac, and urged me to call if I ever needed a hand with anything. Not long after Mac’s death I noticed a dirt mark on the dining room wall. Wetting a cloth to clean it, an electric shock nearly knocked me flat!  There was a live wire behind the wall, and I called Kelly to ask if he could help. His response was immediate; he sent a team of Kelectric workers to Bequia, and they fixed the problem quickly without having to tear the wall down. What a relief!

Mac’s friend Nik, always willing and able to help whenever his tug and barge were in port, solved the problem of Bear the Dog and his sheep-killing ways. Bear’s behaviour had not improved, in fact it had become worse without Mac’s presence in the house, and Nik urged me to consider chaining him. When I resisted the idea of tethering the big  dog Nik came up with his “chain-on-a-line” idea, and it was the perfect solution. He ran a large wire from the children’s quarters, a wire which went through the courtyard and ended at the entrance to the house. A cow chain was then attached to Bear (it had to be heavy, he was a very powerful fellow!), and he was able to run freely until the end of the line. I felt a little sorry for Bear but not much, he was no longer able to wreak havoc in the neighbourhood and that was a good thing!  Bear seemed happy enough, and I no longer had to write cheques for dead sheep. Friends in need are friends indeed, and I was blessed with good friends.