My first boss in the para-transit business was a guy named Lloyd Hooley. I drove up to HopeLink in Bellevue, WA from Kent one afternoon in the early nineties, armed with just my printed driving record.

Meeting Lloyd was a shock as he was a burn victim, but we hit it off and I ended up driving for him, and Hopelink, for years.

We also became friends and he told me the story of how he got burned. He was a California State Highway Patrol trooper down in the Bay Area. He and his partner had pulled a car over on one of the narrow two lane bridges in the southern bay.

They were both sitting in their vehicle, lights flashing, when they were rear-ended by a drunk driver. It burst into flames, Lloyd managed to dive over the bridge, on fire, down into the bay. His partner died.

Lloyd eventually married one of my fellow drivers, can't remember her name but she was a sweety. I went to work for ATC VanCom down in Kent, the largest paratransit outfit on the West Coast, and moved on.

Here's to you buddy, I hope your life went well!

Update: I've been thinking about Lloyd all day since writing this post. I got my commercial license with HopeLink, he was my mentor. I quit smoking by walking three miles to work every morning at 0300. He would drive by and offer me a lift in the morning, I never took him up on it, even in the snow.

I went on to become the first Employee of the Year for ATC Vancom and eventually the lead supervisor. I trained eight new supervisors during that run. I owe everything to Lloyd!