Delilah's Meanderings

Hello to all. I’m picking up from Mark’s last post when were anchored in Pelican Bay by Cayo Costa State Park. A lot has happened since then…

We motored sailed south to Fort Myers Beach about a week ago. We had a comfortable ride with very little boating traffic and only a few dolphin sightings. After arriving at FMB, we did a few of our favorite things. Showers were first on the list, then a walk along the beach, and finally happy hour at The Whale. Yummy! That evening we sat at Original Shrimp Dock Bar & Grill and watched the Pacers versus the 76ers.

The next morning we took the dinghy in and walked to Heavenly Biscuit for breakfast sandwiches and a shared cinnamon roll. Yummy, Yummy! Once back on the boat, we did a few maintenance tasks. Later that day we rode our bikes to Charro Brothers Mexican Restaurant. Yummy again! There’s a pattern here, in case you haven’t noticed. : ) We ran into JoEllen and Ron (Prairie Dog) in town and then Jenn and Duane (Proper Tease) at the dinghy dock. It was good to catch up with friends. On our dinghy ride back to Delilah, we towed an elderly gentleman who was rowing his dinghy due to outboard that wouldn’t start. He happened to be our neighbor in the mooring field. That evening we went back to shore and rode our bikes to Bowditch Point to enjoy a gorgeous sunset.

The following day was more of the same. Morning walk on the beach, a few boat tasks, a game of Scrabble (Mark keeps winning, grrr). We had a beautiful, somewhat windy day. The evening was a little rough with rain and more wind. The next morning we decided to brave the wind and get a couple of things done on shore, getting back to the boat before the winds increased throughout the day. We started with breakfast and the nautical flea market at Bonita Bill’s. Didn’t buy anything but it’s always worth a look! We took the dinghy back across to the dock on FMB side and rode our bikes to the Fort Myers Beach Library for the book sale.

What happened next is shocking and tragic. We witnessed the fatal attack on the beach library director, Dr. Leroy Hommerding. We had arrived at the library shortly before the book sale opening at 9 am. As I was waiting near the doors (Mark was chatting about our foldable bikes with another couple), I was watching a man coming down the sidewalk in the direction of the library. He appeared to be homeless and focused on the library so I was keeping my eyes on him. Mark and the other couple joined me about the time Dr. Hommerding unlocked the doors. This homeless man ran basically right through us to launch himself at Dr. Hommerding. I backed away thinking “he’s going to hit him” and Mark thought it might be some sort of playing around. You just don’t know how you’re going to react in any given situation. We were all in complete shock and it was over in about 30 seconds. The homeless man dashed out as quickly as he came. Then reality set in and we saw the blood. Dr. Hommerding had been attacked with a machete. People were scrambling around calling 911 and some were chasing the attacker. Everything gets sort of blurry after that. Several people tried to help Dr. Hommerding but were unable to do much besides offer comfort. We spent six hours in that library parking lot. We provided written and recorded witness accounts. The detectives followed up with us the next day (Monday) as well. We were instructed not to share details of our follow-up interactions. So I won’t.

Mark is struggling with guilt for not intervening. Knowing there wasn’t really anything that could have been done and accepting that are completely different. So we went through the motions of a normal day on Monday. We made a plan for our next stop at Marco Island. Weather permitting we would leave in a few days. We had prepaid for a week on the mooring ball. Mark caught up on some MDwise work and I cried a lot. That evening as we were playing Scrabble, we decided to leave the very next morning at first light. We both needed a change of scenery.

Yesterday we received an email from one of the library staff. Thanking us once again for staying the day at the library, offering grief counseling information, and inviting us to the memorial service to be held tomorrow. Mark and I have been deeply affected by this tragedy. We will feel forever connected to the staff, volunteers, and other witnesses. We mourn the loss of Dr. Hommerding who by all accounts was a very well loved man.

We are now sitting pretty in a slip at the Esplanade Marina, Smokehouse Bay, Marco Island. Coming here earlier than planned was definitely the right thing to do for us. We’ve been here for three days. Our next post will catch you up on our lovely days here and will be more light-hearted. Love to all.