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TO 3-YEAR-OLD Landon McDaniel it was a perfectly simple request, but it left her grandmother and a Fredericksburg florist in tears earlier this week.
"My friend, Randy, I'm here to buy him a rose," the little Stafford County girl said simply. "He's an angel now."
McDaniel, who routinely accompanies her grandmother on trips to the Giant Food store on the U.S. 1 Bypass in Fredericksburg, wasn't exactly sure what had happened to her friend there, courtesy clerk Randy Groves, the pal she took stickers to on every visit and once described as "her best friend in the world."
Little Landon didn't fully understand the concept of death and dying when her parents and grandparents talked to her about the auto accident last week that claimed the life of the Giant employee, who could neither hear nor speak.
She just knew she wanted to buy a pretty flower, a rose, for the 52-year-old friend who will no longer be there when she visits the Giant supermarket at Park & Shop Shopping Center.
Her grandmother, Laysea Barnes, said "Randy made Landon feel so, so special. He touched so many lives that way."
Groves was trying to cross Lafayette Boulevard about 8:30 p.m. last Wednesday when he was hit. He died later at Mary Washington Hospital.
After a wave of response to news of Groves' death, I visited the Giant store this week to talk with customers and fellow employees.
Though Groves could not speak or hear, they said, he found ways to connect with others.
Debbie Gracik, a checker from Hartwood, said the staff at Giant was devastated by the news of the accident, partly because they all tried to watch out for him.
"Randy couldn't talk to customers, but he found his own way to communicate with them," she said. "He was very sensitive, and noticed when someone was upset or down."
Gracik said the employees are trying to raise money to help cover funeral expenses for their friend.
A bake sale will be held in front of the store on Dec. 6.
Tommy Schoch of Caroline County, who worked alongside Groves at Giant, described his co-worker as dedicated and upbeat.
"He taught me a few words in sign language," Schoch said. "He liked being treated like everybody else and being as independent as he could. Lots of customers didn't know he couldn't hear or talk."
For Marlotte Miller of White Oak, a Giant employee for 20 years, Groves had a personality and spirit that people willing to look beyond his disability could see.
She appreciated Groves' work ethic.
"A lot of people, especially those with a handicap like his, don't want to work. But he did, and always had a smile on his face and a positive attitude," said Miller, who often gave Groves rides to his home in Spotswood Estates.
The only times he wasn't happy came when people got under his skin by parking in the store's customer loading zones.
"He'd come in here and make a gesture with his finger, telling us to get them out of there," said Robin Carver in the front office. "That, and he loved playing scratch-off tickets. He was always in here cashing in winning tickets, then putting all the money back into buying more."
Indeed, when the staff came together to get a special wreath for his funeral, it was decorated with lottery tickets--the kind they knew their friend would have loved to receive.
To reach ROB HEDELT: 540/374-5415 rhedelt@freelancestar.com