Unforgettable Characters

Bobby May was one of those characters you like right away when first meeting them. Bobby was about 55 when I first met him in 1954 when I bid in the 4.30PM Car Checker job at Bathurst St. I thought, what an old codger, but as I say liked him right away. I found out Bobby lived the next block from me, I lived for a while on Northcote Ave, and Bobby lived on Beaconsfield Ave. When I eventually got the 3.30PM Car Checker job we would walk together, the days we worked together, which was not always because we had different days off. I eventually got a car and would pick up Bobby and take him to work, when we worked together, and in fact got quite close. The days we would walk we would walk down Queen St to Dovercourt, south on Dovercourt to Sudbury St. southeast on Sudbury St. to King, along king to Niagara St, which was the poor section in the west end at the time. As we walked down Niagara on a hot day Bobby would call the kids and give them all a nickle for a Popsicle. I shudder to think what the cops would make of that today.
Bobby had been a marathon runner and would get up early most mornings and run along Queen St. to High Park run through High Park to High Park Ave. reverse it and run back home, have dinner and get ready for work.
Bobby was married to a great woman, and they were extremely close. For holidays in the summer they liked to go on the train to Gogama , rent a canoe and tent for 2 weeks.
They had no kids which seemed to make them even closer together than most married couples.
One day while at work we get the bad news that Bobby's wife had died and he was just devastated. Everyone at work felt very bad for Bobby and could see he was in a serious funk, so we thought we should have a little get together at the home of Robert W. and try to get his mind some where else if we could.
We had the get together, which we would normally call a party but under the circumstances that didn't seems proper, and Bobby seemed to have a good time, at least as good as could be expected under the circumstances. I took Bobby home that night, and asked him if he would be going to work the next day, and when he answered in the affirmative I told him that I would pick him up.
I went the next day to his house and when I went into the lobby of his apartment building he shouted down and asked me to come up for a few minutes, which I did.
When I got up to his apartment he said that he had something he would like me to sign. I said no problem, and he handed me a blank 909C report, which was a form for the Car Department advising them hot to deal with a Refrigerator Car. I looked at it and he told me to turn it over, and when I asked him what it was, he replied, my Will, I thought to myself, Jesus Christ, this is a first for me. I signed the Will and Bobby seemed in good spirits, we went down got in the car and went to work. After work I dropped him off and went home, and went to bed as this was the afternoon shift. I was awoken the next day by my mother saying that there was a woman on the phone for me, and when I answered the phone, the woman said that she was Bobby's niece and that Bobby had died that night. She asked me to come to the apartment, which I did and told me that she knew that Bobby was quite close to me, and gave me an octagonal gold watch that Bobby had been awarded in one of his marathons, and I was totally flabbergasted. We all suspected that he had died of a broken heart, and that even if I had heard of such a thing I didn't believe it until this incident. That was all there was to it, until about eight or ten months later I get a call from a Law Office downtown asking me if I had signed a Will for Bobby, to which I told them I had. The Lawyer asked me to come down o his office and swear an oath out to that effect.
I went down and the Lawyer asked me what a 909C report was, and I told him,and he mumbled something inaudible, then asked me if I knew what it said, I told him that I didn't that as soon as I realized it was a Will I thought it was none of my business, to which he replied in no uncertain terms anything you sign is your business. He gave me hell in a good natured way, realizing that I was quite young, inexperienced. and naive. He then told me to read the Will and swear that it was my signature and sent me on my way.
This was not a funny story, but, some of the characters I have met on my journey, should be mentioned and I will do that from time to time in this Blog.
Allan