Tuesday, January 3, 2012
Dear Gisele,
I am deeply sorry to hear about Bob. I don't know if you remember me, but I came to your home for lunch years ago with Amy Spillane and some other ladies.
Also, I am the one Bob sent the card to each year to mail on to one of his friends as a joke. I often wondered if his friend ever figured it out.
I worked with Bob my entire career and he was always so encouraging and such a great guy. Thanks to him I was given wonderful opportunites to advance with the company.
He offered me the job in Greenville, SC, back in 1993 when the company was going through many changes. If I hadn't moved I might not have been working much longer. I was thankful for the chance and this is where I retired in 2007.
I'm not sure he told you, but on one of his visits to Greenville we took him to Krispy Kreme Donuts for hot donuts after dinner. It was a last minute decision. The red light was on and that meant hot, fresh donuts. He had never had one. He was so easy to be around. I can't think of any other executive we could have done this with.
He also loved the SC peaches and we made sure he got some when he visited during peach season.
He always spoke of you and your family lovingly and he also shared some very funny stories.
One was about your cat getting caught in a vent or something and he had to tear down a part of the house to rescue the cat. Another story was when the two of you ran out of gas and he pushed while you steered and he laughed and said you put the brakes on....
I'm not sure about the accuracy of these stories after all these years but I'm hoping they will bring back memories for you.
My prayers are with you and your entire family. I pray that you will make it through the difficult days and find comfort in the wonderful memories you have made during the last 42 years.
God Bless, Linda Ayala
