Thanksgiving has become a melancholy time of year for me over the past several years. My neighbor and the man I considered to be the closest thing to a brother I ever had, died suddenly, the day before Thanksgiving 2000. This year the anniversary of his death will be on Sunday, the 22nd. Peter was a great family man, a hard worker who excelled at his craft, was fanatical about fishing, the only flaw was he was a hockey fan, not a football fan ( just kidding buddy-you might still be sore I beat you at fantasy hockey)
It's really interesting how you arrive at different points in your life. I met Peter by chance through an ex-girlfriend. The house my wife and I live in now is a direct result of meeting Peter. The house nextdoor to Pete's was available to rent and while the ex-girlfriend was kicked out shortly after we moved in, Pete and I became very close friends. Over a few years, I bonded with Pete and his family. During the evenings I was either over at his house, or he was over at my house. In the late 1990's, and the advent of the ultra fast 14.4 dial up modems with computers using Windows 3.1, we were always tweaking our operating systems or downloading some new program. Pete would crash his system just so he could rebuild it, because he could.
If it weren't for Pete, I would never have ever owned a cat. Pete's mother went to her car one morning, while getting ready to start the car, she heard a noise. That noise was a tiny little furball kitten cuddled up on her engine which ended up at my house and since she was alone, I named her Orphie, short for Orphan. Orph was a large part of my life for 13 years.
Pete was one of the most intelligent people I've ever met in my life. His trade in Ft Myers was installing ceramic tile. During periods of bad weather or fishery closures, I'd work with him. I'll never forget his mantra, " You SET Tile, you LAY women and carpeting". Nine years later, I run into people that still say they haven't seen anyone make the tile cuts he could do. Pete, I'll never forget that job we did out at South Seas.
Peter introduced me into the world of politics. He made me really think about things from a different point of view. He inspired me to seek out an appointment to the Gulf Council advisory panel, and unfortunately, he missed my appointment. He missed my Governor's recommendation of appointment to the full voting Council. He missed my trips to Washington, my visit to the floor of the US Senate in full session to get a buyout of fishermen in 2oo5.
Pete's missed out on alot of things I wish I could tell him about. But what I miss telling him about the most is Karen and I getting married. Karen and Pete would have been great friends. I miss you so much buddy, and if you think the Bush V. Gore election was crazy, you'd be out of your mind crazy with whats happening these days. You're not forgotten Pete. I think about you every single day, and those you knew, think about you as well. I wish you were still here.
PETER EDWARD DAVIS JR.
September 20, 1955- November 22, 2000.
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