DEATH OF A FRIEND
Moderator: Excalibur Marketing Dude
-
- Posts: 5701
- Joined: Fri Aug 04, 2006 8:36 pm
- Location: Decatur County, Indiana
DEATH OF A FRIEND
He was born in 1933. His parents must have been Democrats; they named their brand-new baby boy Franklin Delano, after the brand-new president--and in the years of his childhood came to call him by his initials--as the president was "FDR", so their boy was "FD".
FD was many things to many people. He was a father and a brother; the friend of many and the foe of none. He was an intensely private person; many who thought they knew him never knew of his tough service in Korea, or that he sailed the world as a merchant marine for nearly 50 years. That I know so much has been my privilege.
Cancer doesn't care who you are; it cut FD down without distinction, appearing first in his prostate gland, and then his kidneys, and finally in his bones and spine. It was last September when they told him there was no more they could do.
During his decline, I visited with him every 7 to 10 days, first in his home, then in the hospital and in nursing homes. He always behaved as if the most important person in the world had appeared when I came in, though I was just a visiting friend. We'd talk of ordinary things, and pass the time, and then I'd leave. He'd always thank me profusely and tell me to be sure and come back and see him. And I always did.
I watched FD breathe his last today. I've been with many people when they died, and his going was as is the going of most--in the end, he just stopped. He was surrounded by those he loved; his dear caring sister, an adopted son, another friend and me.
FD Mann will be buried Sunday afternoon in a private ceremony in a private cemetery at the end of a road near the Frying Pan here in the county, within a mile of where he was born 76 years ago. There will be little pomp and circumstance. He wanted none. I and another man will speak briefly of his life, and then we'll bury him in the East Carolina ground.
The world will little note his passing, or mourn his going. So it is with the death of many--but I and some few people gathered there will remember, and in the remembering we'll proclaim his significance.
And I will leave knowing I had a friend.
When it's all said and done, that's something.
Yes--I had a friend.
FD was many things to many people. He was a father and a brother; the friend of many and the foe of none. He was an intensely private person; many who thought they knew him never knew of his tough service in Korea, or that he sailed the world as a merchant marine for nearly 50 years. That I know so much has been my privilege.
Cancer doesn't care who you are; it cut FD down without distinction, appearing first in his prostate gland, and then his kidneys, and finally in his bones and spine. It was last September when they told him there was no more they could do.
During his decline, I visited with him every 7 to 10 days, first in his home, then in the hospital and in nursing homes. He always behaved as if the most important person in the world had appeared when I came in, though I was just a visiting friend. We'd talk of ordinary things, and pass the time, and then I'd leave. He'd always thank me profusely and tell me to be sure and come back and see him. And I always did.
I watched FD breathe his last today. I've been with many people when they died, and his going was as is the going of most--in the end, he just stopped. He was surrounded by those he loved; his dear caring sister, an adopted son, another friend and me.
FD Mann will be buried Sunday afternoon in a private ceremony in a private cemetery at the end of a road near the Frying Pan here in the county, within a mile of where he was born 76 years ago. There will be little pomp and circumstance. He wanted none. I and another man will speak briefly of his life, and then we'll bury him in the East Carolina ground.
The world will little note his passing, or mourn his going. So it is with the death of many--but I and some few people gathered there will remember, and in the remembering we'll proclaim his significance.
And I will leave knowing I had a friend.
When it's all said and done, that's something.
Yes--I had a friend.
Grizz
- Doe Master
- Site Admin
- Posts: 4738
- Joined: Sun Jun 25, 2006 7:57 am
- Location: Baden , Ontario
- one shot scott
- Posts: 7021
- Joined: Wed Sep 10, 2008 10:20 pm
- Location: Ontariooh ohh
- Limbs and Sticks
- Posts: 3206
- Joined: Mon Sep 01, 2008 7:13 pm
- Location: Colonial Beach, Virginia, US
post sub
Sorry about your lost Grizz, true friends are hard to come by, very hard to replace
Wes
Wes
"Maxine"
1.75x5 Burris scope
Boo string
STS
Feathered easton 2020's
Magnus stingers
1.75x5 Burris scope
Boo string
STS
Feathered easton 2020's
Magnus stingers
-
- Posts: 5701
- Joined: Fri Aug 04, 2006 8:36 pm
- Location: Decatur County, Indiana
Toward the end of his life, FD was moved through a succession of nursing homes due to his rapidly deteriorating health. The last of these was a place bearing the ironic moniker The Vintage Inn. By this time, FD was often very mixed up about where he was and what he was doing because the cancer had gotten to his brain.Mike P wrote:Thanks for sharing that with us grizz. I am sure FD found great comfort during the last days of his life through your visits.
When I first came to see FD at The Vintage Inn, I asked him, "So ... how do you like this place?" His answer was straight from the years he spent as a merchant marine: "I don't know. I've looked this tub over, and I don't think she's seaworthy. They're planning to ship out to Panama tomorrow, but I don't believe I'll go. I've looked at the engines, and I don't think it's safe."
Then he said, "I'm tired anyway. It's getting too hard to work. I've done about all I can do. I think I'm going to pack up my mess, sling a bag on my shoulder, and hit the dock. I think I'm gonna go home."
He might have been sick and confused, but FD was perceptive ... even at the end.
He was right. There is much about the world that is uncertain and unsafe, and he was tired ... he had done his work here.
He's stepped off the ship of this life and hit the dock of a better place.
My friend is home.
Grizz