Ed's Last Run!!!

Taken Nov 26,2008 during Ed’s final moments [30 years 13 days 7hrs] at SEPTA in Philadelphia in front of his brand new 2008 million$$$ Hybrid Bus #8191, THE 58 HALDEMAN ROUTE.

After 30 years I have officially retired from SEPTA. With a million+ city miles and thousands of hours behind the wheel of a 20 ton, 60 foot monster vehicle, the time has come to put it all behind me. I find myself at a new crossroad in life. Over those 3 decades I forged many great friendships in the duties of my job. On average a thousand people climbed on my bus everyday. Driving up the streets that I felt I owned, folks would board and say "HI EDDIE". Most were the same daily riders who would engage conversation and became a friend. Some would become even closer friends, becoming part of the circle of my life. My coworkers became like family too. I always counted down the years, then months, then days until my day of retirement; thinking how happy I was going to be. Now a part of me is very sad as a huge void is now in my life. I hope to fill it with new challenges. I shouldn’t complain as I have a beautiful home by the ocean in the Crest to relax inand look forward to the future in. SEPTA was good to me as it helped this young single guy back in 1978 buy a house, raise a great family, and live successfully. In return I gave SEPTA the best I could back. Hopefully my accidentfree record will stand the test of time. It is amazing I never killed anyone as the possibility was there to do it with the vehicle or my bare hands. The job made me a good judge of people as I have had to deal with every human from every corner of life. (Yes Some did crawl out from under a rock.) Experience like that cannot be bought! The stories i could tell would fill volumes of books. I actually may try to write one. The job had its many sheer terror moments, also moments of hilarity. I have always said many times "I can’t believe I’m paid this much money to witness the greatest show in history. Some of the things I won’t miss are the gunshots, screaming people, fighting drunks, nasty smelling knuckle dragging neanderthals who never heard of soap or water, and a hundred other things like the empty forties of Colt or Mad Dog rolling around on the floor of the bus late at night. The sounds of the big city are now replaced by the sounds of the ocean. For everyone who has touched my life, a BIG THANK YOU. Now that I have 40 extra hours in the week, I promise to see more of ya soon!

Ed & Kathy will be spending more time on the beach together!