This isn't so much a tale, as it is a rememberance. Today at 2 p.m. cst, my surrogate father, Donlad Garies, died from failing health conditions, while admitted to the VA Hospital of Memphis, Tenn.
Don was more like a father to me than my real father just because he was there for me as often as he could be, whether it was to give me somebody to talk to, a shoulder to cry on, a cigarette to bum when I ran out, or any of several other things that I feel a real father should do, including the occassional smack upside the back of the head whenever I was obviously fucking up and not noticing it myself.
He was there for me to give me good advice when I learned I was going to become a father, as well as for the troubles I went through with my divorce. He listened and helped, never once making me feel ashamed or that I was a freak. And this all from a man that joined the military for WWII at the age of 16 or 17, went through both Korea and Vietnam, was a P.O.W. in both of the later wars, a member of the special forces and training squads for war games while serving the U.S. gov't, yet he tookthe time to help me learn more about myself and to accept and not feel ashamed for my questions and the fact that i wanted answers.
I'll miss you Don. Until we meet in the Hunting Grounds... Ya-ta-he-ho
Unknown "unknown" Sad
- 15 years, 7 months, 9 days ago
