PINELLAS COUNTY, Fla. — There's never a dull moment between Bob Welsh and his daughter Victoria.
On Sunday, Victoria moved her father down from Baltimore to Pinellas Park.
"I am very, very pleased to be with my girl. I've wanted to do this for a long time. I really, truly never thought it was going to happen; too many twists and turns in the route. And many obstacles," Bob said.
Bob's doctor advised against the move.
"They said we wouldn't do it. They said they said it would be impossible to get him here without a medical transport," Victoria added.
But an 18-hour RV trip later, Bob and Victoria made it home safe.
"I love it. I feel so relieved," he added.
Bob is in hospice care, staying with his retired nurse daughter.
The military man is used to a clean-shaven face. But after a month of moving between the hospital and rehab facility, shaving was put on the back burner.
After settling in, Victoria and Bob sat down to discuss his bucket list—number one on the list; an easy choice.
"I have never had a barber shop shave. That's what I'm waiting for," Bob said.
Not just any shave; an old-fashioned shave.
"They look to me like they're a very good thing. I know that a barbershop will shave you good. These pitiful razors that they put out nowadays. Most of them are jokes," he added.
But Bob uses an oxygen machine and has limited liability. Additionally, that type of care isn't easy to come by. So Victoria decided to use Facebook to figure out how to make her dad's dream come true.
"The outpour of love and compassion. I didn't get a response for the actual shave until today, right before you came. But so many people messaged me and said, what else can we do for him? I am not a barber. But what else can I do for him?" Vicki said.
Among the hundreds of comments, one suggested Doug Chancey with Buccaneer Barber. He immediately jumped at the chance to help.
"I'm older. So I've lost some people. And I understand that, you know, this is what you want to do in life. You want to help take care of people. I mean, that's why I'm a barber. I take care of people," he said.
Doug loaded his supplies up and made the journey to Victoria and Bob's home Thursday. Ready to share his passion for barbering, especially with a straight razor, with the Welsh's.
"It's the experience. It's something every man can do for himself there. And if you don't change it from just that normal daily shave, because it's the grind, most guys hate to shave. So if it's really enjoyable to get a shave, then it kind of changes the tone of the whole thing. It kind of makes you enjoy it a little bit more," he said.
Free of charge, Chancey trimmed Bob's hair, shaved his beard, gave him the hot towel treatment he pined for, and even a face and shoulder massage.
It's compassion Bob never imagined.
"It means an awful lot to anyone, especially me at my stage of life. Because I know, and I'm not being crazy, I don't think, but I know when you reach a certain age, you got to accept the fact there isn't a lot more steps left," he said.
The whole process rendered a typically chatty and gregarious Bob speechless.
"Man, he did an excellent job. The hot towels was great. The shave was excellent. And the finish was even better. And I can't thank the man enough. He is a master of his trade," Bob said.
Meantime, others try to figure out how they can contribute to Bob's bucket list. One Facebook user tipped Chancey for shaving Bob. Another found a way to check another adventure off of Bo's list.
"Someone else is fulfilling his wish to cruise along the coast. They have a convertible Chevy car. They're taking him for a ride along the coast," she said.
It's that Florida compassion that warms Bob's heart.
"I don't know what tomorrow holds, but I'm not going to be sitting here worried about it because I'm going to try to make the best of today," he added.
But a shave is only the tip of Welsh's list. In the Facebook post, Victoria shared other desires her father expressed.
- Visit the Automobile museum in Pinellas Park
- Get his teeth cleaned
- A massage to help the pain in his neck
- Take a nice ride along the coast and see the ocean
- To put his feet in the Gulf of Mexico
- Go to a hand-carved furniture store and see the artwork
- Go to Hawaii
- Drive a Mercedes
While some of the goals aren't attainable, Victoria looks forward to crossing as many off her father's list as she can.
