His name was Rat. I did a column years ago about him and I had to call and ask him what his given name was. He told me George Long but that no one knew him by that. I don’t know when he became Rat, but I’ve never known him as anything else.
He died last weekend from Covid. Let me tell you about my
friend Rat. He would do anything for anybody. He loved people and he loved
life. His smile was contagious. And he loved riding bicycles.
I first met him maybe 20 years ago while riding in the Tour
de Blount. I saw this biker sitting under a tree next to the parking lot of
Cedar Grove Baptist Church on Nails Creek Road. For some reason, I will always
remember the spot where I first met the Rat.
He appeared to be having some difficulty so I pulled in to
check on him. He had just started biking and had succumbed to heat and
humidity. The Tour de Blount was his first big ride and he was struggling a
bit. He was OK, just needing a break and some fluids, so I went on my way.
Over the next few years, we became great friends because of
our common love of bicycling and (more importantly) of bicyclists. We spent many hours biking together, climbing
The Wall on Montvale Road many times and covering thousands of miles around
rural Blount County.
And we rode year round. On one particularly cold winter
morning, I remember Rat and I checking out the icy slush in our water bottles. As
he got older, Rat dropped out of our regular Saturday rides and then switched
to a bit slower group on the weekly Cycology rides. A wonderful friend named
Jackie Taylor took Rat under her wing about that time and made sure he was
safe.
Once there was a local guy whose bicycle, his only means of
transportation, was destroyed in a collision with a car. Rat bought him a new
bike. When he heard of a kid in East Knox County that needed a bike, a kid none
of us knew, Rat bought him a bike.
When I admired the bike rack in the back of his truck, he
found my truck parked at Coulter’s Bridge, measured the truck bed, and the next
thing I know I’ve got a new bike rack in the back of my truck. When I traded
trucks, he built another to fit the larger bed. When there was a fundraiser,
Rat was there with a checkbook. He would literally give you the shirt off his
back.
For his 80th birthday, there was a large group of
riders that met and rode from the bike shop to Elkmont where his family had
prepared a party for all. Rat, Jackie, and a few others rode from Townsend to
Elkmont, a respectable distance for anybody. But remember, Rat was 80.
He was incredibly fit for a man of 80 and although he had a
few health problems, he was definitely a tough bird. But this Covid thing
doesn’t pay any attention to all that. It strikes indiscriminately and
sometimes viciously.
For those of you that think that this Covid virus was going
to take only those that were weak and frail, shame on you. For those of you
that think that Covid isn’t really more dangerous than the flu, how dumb can
you be?
It took my healthy friend before his time. It snuffed a life
that knew only love and giving. It killed a truly good man.
Wear that mask. Wash your hands. Keep your distance. Don’t
deny the possibilities if you feel sick. Protect others. People like Rat don’t
need your virus.
Rest in Peace Rat.
Beautiful tribute! Know you will miss your friend!
ReplyDeleteWhat a great tribute, Joe, it brings tears to my eyes. I remember once I had mentioned I needed pallets for a garden project. When I came home from work the next day, low and behold, there was now a stack of pallets along the side of my house. My neighbor described Rat as the gifter who drove up with a truck load of pallets, and he had helped Rat carry every one of them to my yard. Rat was a good man and I will miss him dearly.
ReplyDeleteAnother time, I had bent my bike rack in a fender bender. Rat asked to have it, and a few days later he welded it back and it was good as new. That was Rat!
DeleteI mentioned to Rat casually, on one of our rides with Cycology, that I really liked the egg rolls that we had at his birthday party. Guess what...the next time I saw him, he handed me a bag of frozen egg rolls and a couple of little containers of dipping sauce. Paul, he said, you can fry these when you get home and have them for lunch, otherwise put them back in your freezer and they’ll be good for a while. So, bikes, bike racks, pellets or egg rolls, Rat had us covered. RIP Rat, may there be rolling hills, fair weather and tailwinds where you are my friend.
ReplyDeleteThank you for writing this great piece Joe. We all have a lot to learn from this. I will miss Rat. Rat figured out the secret to a good life: Care about people more than yourself and give more than you take.
ReplyDelete