Cos, Kapper cannot be replaced

While waiting for the leaves to make New England wonderful…I knew it already, but I didn’t want to deal with it. And there it was. In the Connecticut Post obituaries, “Robert Kaps”, and there was the name. Personally, I couldn’t believe it. “Not a guy like Kapper! He was too full of life and love! He couldn’t get sick!”

This guy was so much more than Robert S. Kaps. He was a friend, a brother, a pal and, I suppose, a Red Rugger. Yes, being a Fairfield University rugby player meant a lot to Bobby Kaps, but being a good person meant so much more. And that is the legacy he leaves.

The legacy he leaves without question is his smile. I am not kidding. Every time you saw this guy he was smiling. I remember the first time I saw him he was smiling and I said, “What are you smiling about?” and I said , “I heard a lot about you,”…”And I said you must be a jackass.”

He was far from a jackass. Bobby Kaps was a jovial and caring human being. His smile was infectious . And if you didn’t know it, he would make you know it. As far as I know, he is smiling now.

But there is more from the Red Rugger Class of ’85. there is also Jim Costello, who was another true knucklehead, right around I was concerned about Bobby, I heard that Cos had also died suddenly.

The last time a saw Cos was a few years ago when I was going to a Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes concert in lower Manhattan, he told me he had left the world of finance to work for the NYFD.

Rest in Peace Cos: You are a true hero.

Coda: A few months ago I was grabbing a sandwich in a great Fairfield center bistro called Pronto and I was introduced to a couple of Fairfield U. gals. Being old in the teeth one of them asked me what year I graduated, when I answered she replied, you must know my father ‘Bobby.’

I smiled and knew that already. She had that smile. She will always have it. And that smile will live forever.

Cheers