Wally's Last Night

[Shayna]

There is so much sadness here since Wally's passing that I thought it might help somewhat to share with everyone how wonderful his last night on this planet was. It was Father's Day, a happy and celebratory occasion, and he spent it with his children. He was incredibly proud of them and thoroughly enjoyed every moment he got to be with them. It's brief, but here is what he had to say about his dinner and time with his kids on his last night.


Shayna 06/18/20 8:34 PM

Hi sweetheart! Happy Father's Day. How was dinner? How was your day?

WallyM7 06/18/20 8:35 PM

Thank you, sweet. Dinner was great.

For appetizer, I had stuffed mushrooms, and for the main course I had a sirloin steak, baked potato with sour cream, and baby carrots.

For dessert, coffee with cognac and cheesecake.

Son had Lobster Newburg(yuck)and daughter had Filet Mignon(very nice). We always taste each other's food when we go out. I don't know how that started.

We also had a bottle of claret. Amy had a sip, made a face, and said, "How can you guys drink this stuff?"

Steve said, "You see, and you thought that we have a good time when we drink."

She tries so hard not to laugh at his jokes, but she lost it that time. Bless them both. They're a joy to me in my old age.

Shayna 06/18/20 8:37 PM

It sounds like you had a wonderful time! :-) And dinner sounds delicious!

WallyM7 06/18/20 8:38 PM

Yeah, it was very nice. And they paid!

Shayna 06/18/20 8:39 PM

That's so sweet. You have so much to be proud of.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

He did, indeed, have much to be proud of. And I'm proud to be able to call such an incredible man friend.

I've emailed this excerpt to Amy, as well as some others where he talked about her and Steve, in the hopes that it would comfort them to see their father's words. I hope it brings the Straight Dope community some comfort to know how happy he was, as well.

I love you, Wally.

Shayna

[Eve]

Shayna, what HAPPENED to Wally? When I read of his death, I'd thought it was associated with his bypass. But then I saw Amy's thread mentioning an "accident."

Are any Canadian papers printing his obit? If it was a work-related accident, I'd think it might even be a news story. I want to read more about Wally; who he was, what he did . . .

[tatertot]

Shayna, I don't know what to say, I'm all choked up. I know that Amy & Steve will take comfort reading how much their father loved and treasured him. Thank you for sharing this with us.

[Kiki]

Very sweet. I'm glad he was able to spend Father's Day with his loved ones! He will be sorely missed!

[Shayna]

Hi Eve. Wally owned his own business. They built, installed and repaired plastic blow moulding equipment that was used primarily to make plastic bottles for cosmetic and pharmaceutical use. He had 2 employees whom he treasured dearly. And he was proud that he paid them the 20% over industry standards that he said they deserved (just like Wally to be so generous, eh?).

I don't have any specifics about the fall itself, but apparently he fell quite a distance, as his injuries were very extensive. (Not for the faint of heart - do not read if this will upset you!) He suffered massive internal injuries and a serious cranial fracture. They operated, and he drifted in and out of consciousness, but at 10:40am on June 20th he succumbed to his injuries and passed on.

Amy's words from her email to me: "He fought hard, but I guess God wanted him more... He was surrounded by many, many friends and family in his final moments."

His absense has left an indescribable emptiness in my heart. I can only imagine what it's done to his family. Bless them, and may their hearts heal with time.

[ChiefScott]

Powerful, sad and uplifting too.

Should I be able to go out loved by so many, I'll have considered my life well lived.

[KimKatt]

Thank you so much, Shayna, for posting those details. As painful as they are, so many people here were wanting to know what happened.

And also for posting his words. Everyone should live their lives blessed with such family and friends.

[Eve]

How AWFUL—I do hope they had him on plenty of pain medication. We all feel badly for his employees as well as his family.

Now I will never be able to use a plastic shampoo bottle without thinking of Wally . . .

[Vestal Blue]

Thank you, Shayna.

[Minxsmom]

Thank you for sharing, Shayna.

If we have to leave this earth, that's the way to go. Doing something you love, surrounded by loving family and friends. Your final memory of your family (and their memory of you) is of a joyous family outing. Our Wally deserved no less.

[Catrandom]

Thank you so much, Shayna. It means a lot to know.

Catrandom

[Monster104]

Thanks for sharing that with us Shayna.

[Coldfire]

Thanks so much for sharing that, Shanya, as much as it hurts to read it. It's incredibly hard to read what my buddy Wally must have gone through. Dammit. But I'm glad I know.

"La vie est absurde et Dieu n'existe pas"
(Jean-Paul Sartre)

Not to offend anyone, but there's nothing more reflective of my sentiments right now.

[rubes]

This totally sucks. I never corresponded with Wally, but read his posts religiously. Each time I read a post re:Wally I start tearing up.

I just want to let each and every one out on the SD how much this community means to me.

:wally

[Shayna]

"La vie est absurde et Dieu n'existe pas"

I agree, Coldfire. I agree.

[vanilla]

Thats just what I was thinking lately, God wanted him more.
We wanted him a lot, but, just think, if God misses you that much you must be pretty wonderful-and he was.

[Falcon]

Thank you for posting this, Shayna.

And Cold....couldn't agree more.

[elelle]

Thanks Shayna.

Although nothing can soften the loss, there is some comfort in knowing that Wally had a wonderful Father's Day with his family.

Reflecting yesterday upon an E-mail he sent me before his heart surgery, to thank me for the well wishes, I realized that he had a good five months after that scare in which his family and friends realized how precious he was, and rallied around him.

There is a grace in that too, and Wally richly deserved it.

[omni-not]

Wally!

[Ruffian]

Jill, thank you so much for all you have done for all of us these past few days. You took up the difficult and painful task of telling the board about the loss of a dear friend and popular poster, and here have opened your heart and shared your last conversation with this person. That you gave what has to be the personally painful details of his fall, offering explanation to the confusion many of us have shared, speaks of your strength and integrity. I admire you a lot, girl. I really do. And, as many have already said, thank you.

Next time we meet, I'm giving you a big hug as well as a froo-froo drink.

[aha]

Wally sent this back to me some time ago when I asked him to listen for my records in Canada to help me monitor my airplay royalties. It has been in my inbox for several months and I didn't delete it because I really cherished hearing from him. What a nice and wonderful person he was.



Dear Mike,

Forgive me for not responding sooner. I remember the Five Americans. I think your debut was "I See the Light."

We have two oldie stations in my area: CHUM1050 Toronto and CKOC1150 Hamilton. Both of these stations are AM and in Ontario. I listen to both of them, especially when I'm driving. I will certainly inform you whenever I hear one of your songs.

It's going to be tough, keeping to myself the fact that our own aha was a recorded writer\musician in the crazy Sixties. Of course, I have no intention of betraying a confidence. I think that perhaps you don't want this fact to be widely known is for fear of being innundated with a gazillion questions.



Thanks for writing, Mike. I'll let you know if I hear one of your numbers. I promise.


Best Regards,
Wally



Walk slow old son because none of us are too far behind you. We'll see you again...

and until then, here is a three stooges poke in the eye for ya.

putz.

(watery eyes)

Repectfully Mike/aha

[DAVEW0071]

At the risk of coming off sounding trite and corny, this reminds me of the Wizard's words to the Tin Man.

"Remember, a heart is measured not by how much you love, but by how much you are loved by others."

Truly, Wally had an enormous heart.

Godspeed.

[matt_mcl]

La vie est peut-être absurde, mais cela ne signifie pas qu'aucun dieu n'existe. Comme évidence, je vous presente Wally lui-même.

[purrplebear]

Thank you is such an inadequate phrase, but it's the best I have right now, Shayna. I can only imagine how hard that must have been for you to type. I pray that God will wrap His loving arms around you and bring you comfort. I'm here for you, always.

So many wonderful sentiments expressed here, I echo them.

I received an email from one of the dopers<not saying who, because I don't have permission to quote them yet> and one sentence struck me in my heart:

...but I feel like all across the country, there are many of our hearts holding hands. If Wally did anything for this board, it made some of us love and hold onto each other a little more.

Amen, my friend. I am proud to be a part of this community called Dopeville, especially the MPSIMS neighborhood.

[jazzmine]

La vie est peut-être absurde, mais cela ne signifie pas qu'aucun dieu n'existe. Comme évidence, je vous presente Wally lui-même.

I have to go with Coldfire's sentiments instead.

trisha

[Ayesha]

Thank you Shayna. It is hard knowing what happened, but not as hard as not knowing was.

I am so glad to know that he and his family had such a wonderful day before the accident.

[Shayna]

Thank you, everyone, for your kind and loving words. I am still bitterly sad, and will be for a long time. But knowing that this post meant something to those who also loved Wally means a great deal to me.

And Ruffian, I will take you up on that hug, girlfriend. I could sure use a real one right now. Thank you.

[drollman]

Rats.

Like many other posters, I never met Wally. Unlike many posters, I had the opportunity...and I blew it.
Wally and I are from the same neighbourhood. We didn't realize it until one of his posts sounded just to damn familiar. (You know that one about the stolen cop car?)
We e-mailed back and forth and found out we had the old neighbourhood, friends and stories in common. I don't get back to the old neighbourhood very often, but he did say we would share a beer at the Eastwood (local favorite watering hole) if I stopped by. I never did. This weekend I will make apoint of going to the Eastwood, ordering a draft, and saluting a man who made me laugh long, loud and often.

'Bye Wally.

[iampunha]

I've been debating with myself long and hard over where to put this little bit of comfort. I don't know that this is the best place, but I don't know that any place is better.

I was walking to my final exam for psychology yesterday and was naturally more concerned about other things than about the actual exam. We had just covered old age/death and dying the previous day and I'm glad I wasn't able to be there, else I might have fallen completely apart.

Anyway, I started thinking about Wally . . . wondering if he was okay. And I got an incredible feeling of joy/happiness . . . and a sort of mental image, I guess, of him watching over me in particular.

I don't know quite what to attribute this next bit to, but there were sections of the final exam that I just didn't know . . . so I read the questions and came back to them, and I _knew_ the answers. This is stuff where I wasn't in class when the material was covered, and I didn't get the book for the class. ALl I can think of is that he made damn sure I passed that exam. Probably would have called me a putz if I hadn't.

FWIW, I write with my left hand, the same that has "Putz" written on it.