Well, he died. I wrote about him back in January (1/10), how he was slipping slowly away, and now he is gone. He died of very natural causes, his heart, his lungs, his mind, all seemed to have had enough. The morphine made him more comfortable, and probably made everything more certain. He had officially been on an "hospice treatment plan" for less than a week.
He was 95, and of all the people I have known, he is one who could say that he achieved most of what he set out to do. He fit the true American ideal mold. He grew up poor, worked hard, made the most of a couple of breaks, kept working hard, and made a good life for himself. He was an older son who tried to care for his younger brothers. He had a wife and two daughters, and he tried to be good to them, in the classic, fatherly way.
He retired to Florida for years, played golf, walked the beach, and was generally pleased with himself, if not with too many others. For me, his son-in-law, he wasn't that easy to get to know, but he was easy enough to get along with. He was a business man and I was a psychologist, and I don't think that any of this "get-to-know someone stuff" made much sense to him anyway.
He was a man of his time, and he enjoyed doing what he was supposed to do. He did it with structure and discipline and that paid off. If his example of how to conduct business was continued by others after he retired in 1980 we certainly would not be in the mess we find ourselves now. He didn't try to get rich quick. He got up and went to work every day and tired to work harder and smarter than the competition, yet without trying to be ruthless enough to put anyone else out of business. And he enjoyed what he did.
Most of the people who knew him have died before him. He had four siblings, now only one remains. Most, but not all, of his marbles had rolled away before his body gave out. It was time for him to go, and you could tell he knew it. he had done almost all of what he set out to do.
A few weeks ago he said to his daughter, " I have had a good life." and he really did. That's the best anyone can say.
2 comments:
What a wonderful tribute to your father in law. Sounds like a fine man.
Please accept my sympathies to you and your family.
I'm sorry to hear it.
I'm glad he had a good life.
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