DEATH OF A FRIEND

Crossbow Hunting

Moderator: Excalibur Marketing Dude

Post Reply
Grizzly Adam
Posts: 5701
Joined: Fri Aug 04, 2006 8:36 pm
Location: Decatur County, Indiana

DEATH OF A FRIEND

Post by Grizzly Adam »

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.
Grizz
User avatar
Doe Master
Site Admin
Posts: 4738
Joined: Sun Jun 25, 2006 7:57 am
Location: Baden , Ontario

Post by Doe Master »

Sir he was a rich man for having a friend like you .
SPITFIRE
Posts: 455
Joined: Tue Mar 10, 2009 2:19 pm
Location: usa

Post by SPITFIRE »

And a good friend he had also. Sorry to read about your friend grizz.






SPITFIRE
User avatar
one shot scott
Posts: 7021
Joined: Wed Sep 10, 2008 10:20 pm
Location: Ontariooh ohh

Post by one shot scott »

Soory to hear of the loss of your freind, grizzly adam.
*thumbhole vixen*original relayer*y25relayer*matrix380-
saxman
Posts: 5093
Joined: Sat Sep 09, 2006 10:05 am
Location: Amelia Island, Florida
Contact:

Post by saxman »

Very touching Grizz
Sorry for your loss my friend.
Scott
http://www.myspace.com/saxman1

Take a kid hunting
They don't remember their best day of watching TV

Excalibur Equinox
TruGlo Red/Green Dot
NGSS Absorber by NewGuy
Custom strings by BOO
Groundpounder Top Mount
ACF Member - 2011
fletch
Posts: 648
Joined: Mon Nov 24, 2003 11:49 am
Location: Greely,Ont.

Post by fletch »

Sorry for the loss of one of your dear friends.
Exomax w/ Lumizone
custom Boo string w/silencers
GT II's w/r helical 4 deg offset
Slik Triks and Lumenoks
Pydpiper
Posts: 6148
Joined: Thu Nov 30, 2006 4:56 pm
Location: Woodstock, Brantford'ish, ON
Contact:

Post by Pydpiper »

Nice tribute Adam, may your friend rest in peace.
If you are not willing to learn, nobody can help you, if you are willing, nobody can stop you.
A bowhunter with a passion for shooting firearms.
WMU 91
Boo string
User avatar
bucont
Posts: 390
Joined: Sun Dec 30, 2007 6:27 pm
Location: Sarnia, Ontario, Canada
Contact:

Post by bucont »

Well spoken Grizz, I feel for you and his family.
Axiom SMF
Munch mount
MeadowBrooke Game Calls
LCCA
User avatar
Limbs and Sticks
Posts: 3206
Joined: Mon Sep 01, 2008 7:13 pm
Location: Colonial Beach, Virginia, US

post sub

Post by Limbs and Sticks »

Sorry about your lost Grizz, true friends are hard to come by, very hard to replace :(


Wes
"Maxine"
1.75x5 Burris scope
Boo string
STS
Feathered easton 2020's
Magnus stingers
mikej
Posts: 5688
Joined: Sat Sep 15, 2007 1:38 pm
Location: ontario

Post by mikej »

sorry to hear of your loss grizz may you friend rest in peace
If guns cause crime, all of mine are defective
User avatar
huntone
Posts: 821
Joined: Fri Jan 16, 2009 2:56 pm
Location: Middle Tennessee

Post by huntone »

Sorry about your friend Grizz. Good friends, will always be there for you, as you were there for him.
Dale

Ibex
Lumizone
Dan Miller mount
Farmer
Posts: 3028
Joined: Sun Oct 13, 2002 6:35 am
Location: SW..Ontario

Post by Farmer »

Sorry to hear of the loss of your friend .
Mike P
Posts: 2091
Joined: Thu Nov 21, 2002 9:58 pm

Post by Mike P »

Thanks for sharing that with us grizz.

I am sure FD found great comfort during the last days of his life through your visits.
Grizzly Adam
Posts: 5701
Joined: Fri Aug 04, 2006 8:36 pm
Location: Decatur County, Indiana

Post by Grizzly Adam »

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.
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.

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
Post Reply