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Peter M. West: Terms of the Deal

 

For Eileen West, there was always "the deal" she had with her husband, Peter M. West. The deal was an agreement that spontaneity had its time and its place, and that Mrs. West was the one to say, gently, when and where. On vacations, Mr. West, a municipal bond broker at Cantor Fitzgerald, could do his latest daredevil thrill, like skydiving or hang-gliding. "But never on the first day of vacation," said Mrs. West, a hospital administrator, "always on the last."

A lifelong fan of James Dean, Mr. West, 54, wanted a motorcycle. "But the deal was, only when the kids were finished with college," Mrs. West recalled.

So in 1997, days after their daughter, Meredith, graduated from college (they also have a son, Matthew), Mr. West bought a starter motorcycle, a Yamaha. Last year, he bought his dream machine, a Harley- Davidson Softail Deuce. It was a black and chrome beauty that Mr. West got at a special auction; his bid was far higher than the motorcycle's usual $16,000 price tag.

On weekends, Mr. West, in leather chaps, would roar off from the couple's home in Pottersville, N.J., sometimes for hours. One day, a police officer asked Mr. West who was following him in the blue Audi. "My wife," he replied.

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From "Profiles in Grief" of The New York Times