Anyone who knows about Disney knows about Tigger. What you might not know is why he is important to me and many of my coworkers, and why he went to Italy with us.
While working at Lofton, I developed a good friendship with Tommy Durr. He started out working in the placements department in the Baton Rouge office, and ultimately worked his way into sales. After the hurricane season of 2005, business for staffing agencies all along the Gulf Coast was booming, and we were no different. As a company, we made some sales and hours goals during that year, and as a reward for reaching those goals, each employee that was working full time at the time the goal was reached would be sent on a company-paid cruise. We had seven or eight cruises to choose from, and Tommy D and I, along with Barbara, Katherine, Monica, the Babin clan and a few others all chose the Carnival Conquest cruise that left out of Galveston on October 28, 2007. It was a 7-day cruise that was at sea for 2 days, then stopped in Jamaica, Grand Cayman, and Cozumel, with a final day at sea before returning to Galveston.
The Baton Rouge folks were on their way over to Galveston on Saturday the 27th so they could spend the night and board the ship the next day. About 4:15 Saturday afternoon, I get a call from Jay Babin saying that Tommy and Katherine (who was riding with him) had been in a head-on collision on Texas 124 just a little south of Winnie, TX. Texas 124 is a relatively narrow 2-lane road that is more of a scenic route and involves a ride across part of Galveston Bay on the Bolivar Ferry. Unfortunately, that choice was fateful for Tommy and the rest of the gang that was caravaning behind him. Katherine and the 24-year old idiot driver of the vehicle that came into their lane were air-lifted to the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston. Katherine was mostly OK with no major injuries. The driver of the other vehicle died about 7 hours after arriving at the hospital.
Tommy died at the scene. He was 28.
Needless to say, all of us - and the entire Lofton family - were absolutely shocked and heartbroken at his tragic loss. He was one of the most amazing people I've ever had the pleasure of knowing, and his friendship was an honor.
Well, Tigger was Tommy's favorite Disney character. Several of the folks in the Baton Rouge office (mainly Barbara and Dawn) came up with the idea of having a Tigger stuffed animal travel around with folks so he could have his picture taken in all sorts of different places and situations, as this would be a great tribute to Tommy. He loved life and he loved to travel, and having Tigger travel with us to Italy was actually like having a little piece of Tommy with us while we were over there. I took Tigger with us to just about every place we visited in Italy. We got some strange looks as well as some, "Awwww, look! It's Tigger!" comments from passers by.
As a result, I've posted my set of Tigger pictures that I shared with my Baton Rouge coworkers here on my website for you to enjoy as well.
And to Tommy: Yo Homey! I hope Tigger and I did you proud while we were there! Wish you could've gone with us in person - it was a great trip, and you would've had a blast. Awww sookie! Peace out, brother!
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