Mourning Lou

On October 15th 2011, Bob & I flew to Rome for a two week tour of Italy.
We were suppose to be going with my older brother, Charlie and his wife, Ellen, and my younger brother, Marty, and his wife, Donna.   But on July 30th of 2011, Charlie died suddenly of a cerebral hemorrhage after falling backwards in a lawn chair.   We were so devastated that we contemplated canceling our trip.  My brother, Marty, and my sister-in-law, Donna, had decided not to go, and we weren't sure what we should do.  After much prayer and soul-searching we decided to continue on with our plans.  Although it was a bittersweet experience since it was something my brother, Charlie, and I had planned together, Bob and I found comfort and joy when we connected in a special way with another couple on our tour, Rita and Lou Charles Fox.   They sat across the table from us at our first dinner in Rome and we hit it off immediately.   They quickly became our closet traveling companions and throughout the entire trip we found ourselves seeking out their company.  Before we parted ways, they gave us a beautiful blown glass ornament that they had bought for us in Murano,Venice, and although they came from Inman, South Carolina, and we lived in upstate NY, and we promised to stay in touch and had even made plans to meet them at a Lobster Fest in Charleston.    When we got back home again, Bob e-mailed back and forth with Lou for a few months and then, despite continuous effort, never heard from him again.  On our way back from Florida in late February - early March 2012, we took a rather lengthy detour in order to stop by Rita and Lou's home in Inman, SC.  No one was home but we left them a note before we continued on our trip to Albany.   We were mystified and saddened by this unexplained silence.  We wondered if we had done something to offend them.    Last night, in a bit of a clean up, I came across our Globus Italian Mosaic Itinerary.  So Bob decided to try one more time to reach Lou.  He proceeded to do a "Google" search only to discover that Louis Charles Fox died October 18th 2012,a year after Bob and I spent two weeks with Lou and Rita in Italy.     We were heartbroken to learn this sad news, but we were immensely blessed to have shared such quality time with an especially marvelous couple.