Yard work and tears.

 

Trimmed most of our Butterfly Bushes today and did a little raking. After that, it was a fairly an emotional day.

My boys were Boy Scouts and we grew close to some of the other boys and their families over the years.

August 2008, our troop took our annual whitewater rafting trip. As with previous trip, scouts, parents and leaders all divide up into rafts. My wife, Dr. Bob Scheuch, Bob's daughter Chloe, another parent, Lauren and a scout, John and myself was the crew in our raft that August.

The year before, we had Bob's wife and a different scout mom on our raft. We had a blast with the Scheuch's.

Chloe, didn't have the best time in '07, her first time down the rapids. In '08 she was a year older and to add a little more fun, when the water was calm, we'd paddle in circles and make us all a little dizzy. We called it “making doughnuts.”

At one rapid, we hit a bolder and Bob hurt his foot which was wedged between the seat roll and the rock underneath the raft. Nothing serious, but he was a bit sore. We all stopped for lunch and the boys and some adults went for a swim before we finished the second leg of the trip.

On our last rapid, maybe twenty-five minutes before the end of the trip, Bob fell forward. I was seated next to him and asked if he was all right, no response.

I grabbed his life-vest and pulled him up as I yelled for Lauren who was directly in front of Bob. She jumped to the back of the raft as I was struggling to get Bob to say anything. He had a blank stare and seamed to want to tell us something. We maneuvered the raft to the bank of the river.

Tac, our scoutmaster and a registered nurse from a different group both tried their hardest to get Bob breathing again.

Upriver, Bob's two sons and the rest of the troop waited, everyone knew it was Bob. People were looking for a doctor. Bob was the doctor.

Cel held Chloe only yards away from where her dad laid lifeless on the rocks as Tac and this stranger gave Bob mouth to mouth.

Bob was pronounced dead, news we learned as we returned to camp.

Today, Robert W. Scheuch III, Bob's first son was awarded his Eagle Scout Award. Bobby, as everyone calls him was amazing. We all are so proud of the man you have become.

I couldn't post a photo today.