RIP, Thomas!



RIP, old friend.
My husband and I work for a property management company. We manage almost 400 mobile homes in 16 communities in 2 counties. The owner of the company likes to employ folks who live in his homes because they have a vested interest in the communities and it's a great way to get his monthly rent on time! We sometimes refer to the employment situation as "The Island of the Misfit Toys". Thomas was one such Misfit Toy. Thomas did odd jobs for us, wherever an extra pair of hands was needed. His very favorite thing to do was play "Repo Man", which consisted of cleaning all the belongings left behind when every anyone moved out of one of the units. It didn't matter how nasty the job was, he was happy to go. Thomas didn't have an overabundance of education but that man KNEW stuff. He'd walked a rough mile or two in his life, for sure.

In the picture below, he and our office manager (who gets her hands dirty on a regular basis) were just about to go scoop big fat maggots out of an old fridge. Thomas was diabetic and had a diabetic ulcer in his foot which would never heal. They took a toe - he went back to work the next day. Some time after that they took the foot all the way to the heel and don't you know he hobbled over to the office two days later and wanted to know what we had for him to do. His blood sugar was out of control and he refused to take his meds, and had his hand in the candy dish at 9:00 in the morning. So it wasn't really a surprise when we heard two weeks ago that he was in ICU with a raging infection from what was left of his foot, and blood sugar readings of 800. He was a stubborn old goat, and he NEVER, EVER complained, no matter how sick he was. We got word this morning that merciful God put an end to his suffering. We will all miss our friend who brought a little sunshine with him wherever he went. RIP, Thomas.....

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