On our way to dinner and new year's celebration
last night here on St. John, USVI, we had to take Rudolph A. "Pimpy" Thomas Jr. Road.
In fact, we've had to take this road many times since arriving just two days ago.
So I had to ask:
Who was "Pimpy" Thomas?
I poked around and found out.
Remember that St. John was essentially uninhabited just one human lifetime ago. Pimpy Thomas was one of the pioneers -- first, in helping to dig what became the important Centerline Road, and second, in the water delivery business, with the opening of Pimpy's Water Delivery in the 1960s. He brought water to homes around the island, even to areas where paved roads had not yet reached.
Thomas went on to teach his kids to drive the water trucks, as well as basic maintenance.
One of thirteen children, Pimpy Thomas was, according to his obituary in 2021, a "jack of all trades: musician, comedian, carpenter, mechanic, and volunteer firefighter, just to name a few. But most importantly, he was a man of God."
The band he formed with his brothers played in
various locations around the island.
He played softball with the St. John Ambassadors of the 40+ League. After he retired from playing, he stood behind home plate as an umpire.
His friend Kenneth Blake shared numerous stories about Thomas after his death, and was straight with us about the man's singing: "He was not a great singer, but he was good."
All in all, then, an honorable life, lived to the fullest.
For whatever reason, nowadays that seems harder to do: we're pulled in a million directions, scarcely able to come up for air, and the demands on us seem unending.
More than ever, we need to go into the new year with an executable plan rather than wishes and sentiment.
Some of us (myself included) were out celebrating last night so, although I never do this, I'm offering my Hangover Extension on my Crusher goal-setting program: even though the clock on the site reads zero, the discount is still in effect until midnight tonight.
Do it for Pimpy:
https://www.2025Crusher.com
Tom Woods