Today was the celebration of life for William Victor Adams III, who has been part of our lives for 30+ years. I met Vic when I begans to date Alan back in 1982-we had them visit Alan's apartment in Baltimore one afternoon. He arrived with laura, who was 7 months pregnant with Abi. He had a great smile and a warm heart and I liked him immediately,
During those early years, we spent a great deal of time with social events. I went to my first bluegrass festival, where I was introduced to moonshine. Not sure that was such a good thing...but key here with Vic was fun with capital letters.
We spent many years at the Preakness. They would come up the night before and we would head to the races with our shopping cart full of booze, in hopes of staying awake for the big race (which rarely happened). Vic was part of a quad-it was Alan, Mike Weber, Vic, and Steve Dudley. I am sure they raised enough hell in their youth and we probably don't know the half of it.
I also could count on an annual appearance at our Bop Til you Drop parties, since dancing was a passion of his. He was invested-shot, chat,dance, chat, dance, shot. And partners made no difference. He was there to get his groove on.
There was a life transition for Vic when he and Laura went their seperate ways and he showed up at my 50th birthday party with a hot 22 year old. A very sweet girl, and I can't say I blame him. They stayed the night and conversation the next morning was limited to was she finished with school and what career had she hoped for. A very sweet girl..but a short lived relationship.
Vic informed us that he had met someone on Match.com and it was a serious thing and wanted us to come for dinner. I was skeptical-after all, Marcia had not had much success in this venue. But okay, dinner. We arrived and walked in and met Joanne, a bright smiling midwesterner with a heart of gold and a tiny dog she dressed in clothes. And the physical difference was striking as well-Laura was a blonde, freckled california girl who was petite. Jo was a silver haired beauty with glasses, a bit taller and curves in the right places. I was wary....until she served a kick ass dinner, chattering the whole time with a laugh that was infectious and concluded the dinner with copious ammounts of lemon drop shots with invites to all to spend the night. Ah, now I get it. She is a foodie who loves good times. A match indeed.
We spent years having international dinners with Vic being a big part of them. he loved to cook, share stories, smoke cigars, and share shots of whiskey. He was forthright with his roller coaster life, his ups, his downs, his loves, his hurts. He struggled when Laura left, but rebounded nicely when Jo came into his life.
I will miss his smile, his laugh, his hugs, his warmth. Please say hello to Julie for me.
