Laurel Ridge. Grass Fed Beef farm day.
A Beautiful Remembrance of my Dad…
Bob McIntyre….Mac…..It’s hard to distill a friendship of 32 years into something meaningful, in a few short words. I’ll try, not just for myself, but for many of those in this gathering who knew Mac well……
We dined with him
We sailed with him
We fished with him
We traveled with him
We did woodworking with him
We listened to him sing
Some of us had the privilege of singing with him
We were his friends ~ we talked about life, his family and his kids
We talked about his illness…the challenges it presented to him, how he felt about it….his will to live….to take the risk….to reach for life….
We spent time together….
Who was Mac?
He was a man of tremendous warmth
He was charming
He was intelligent, but not self-important
He had a twinkle in his eye, and a tendency toward mischief (which, by the way, was infectious)
He was a relaxed human being…he was not in a hurray with life…he took things more or less as they came…at a measured pace, and with persistent kindness
He was very engaging ~ he had a way with people. It didn’t matter whether you were the CEO, the CFO, the IT manager, the secretary, the folks behind the counter at the hardware store or the locals in the neighborhood pub. He could talk with anybody, on any subject, and frequently did. He respected and dealt with everyone for who they were………
Mac was surrounded by music from the days of his childhood. For many years, he sang tenor with the Greenwich Choral Society. He loved opera perhaps most of all. He’d listen to the radio in the afternoons. La Boheme would reduce him to tears……
For many of us, there are stories/vignettes we’ll never forget. I’ll give you three:
• There was the charity event 20 years ago. An auction. Ten of us put in a successful bid for a sailboat charter across the Sound to a lovely cove off Long Island: an afternoon sail with a gourmet lunch, lead by the threesome of Captain Mac and a crew of Dario and Skip. We sailed across the Sound and then settled in: the “head” proved to be non-functional; they forgot to check the propane in the galley (Skip’s treasured soup was served solid and cold); and they delayed our return voyage just long enough for the tide to go out, leaving the keel firmly embedded in the muck.
• Mac and Dario had two beautiful sailboats — appropriately named Indulgence I and Indulgence II. They sank ‘em both, one at the bottom of Darien harbour, not far from here.
• Mac was an engineer by training. Dario had a tree stump in his front yard. He wanted it removed. Mac said: “No problem; I have a titanium cable; we’ll wrap it around the stump and pull it out with your car”. Well, the engine roared, the cable groaned…. and snapped, and Dario’s car catapulted across the street, coming to rest within a few inches of his neighbor’s living room. We can still hear them squawking and laughing: “you idiot!”
I relate these occurrences, not in derogation of Mac’s nautical or engineering prowess, but to reflect upon the fact that there are embedded in life’s experiences some incredibly funny moments, and Mac (and we, his friends) enjoyed them to the fullest measure.
So, when we look upon the passing of Robert McIntyre, let us not be lugubrious. Let us remember that Mac was a resilient force, someone who overcame polio, an optimist, a man who had a beautiful wife, Sue, and three wonderful offspring, Elizabeth, Ted and Emily, a man who lived life to the fullest and left each of us with a piece of him: his spirit, his warmth, his humour and his love and friendship. For that, we should be eternally grateful………
Looking forward in 2013…Goals for this year:
- Survive and be proud of my first year of teaching come June
- Run the Chicago or Hartford marathon
- Purchase a road bike
- Complete a sprint triathlon
- Do yoga once a week
- See at least one concert or movie per month
- Post about food at least once per month
- Visit Nashville
- Visit Chicago
- Visit San Francisco/Los Angeles
- Start my German Rosetta Stone
- Reach and maintain my goal weight
- Go to bed earlier
