Stories from one picture
often heard my Father avoided service
I knew it as cowardice
A giant of a man he beat up on women and children
But his excuse was a heart problem
still in high school I joined the National Guard
upon graduation I joined the Air Force
I was also told I have irregular heart beat
Doctors would ask?
The only of his family not an alcoholic
Died of a heart attack Do you have a history of heart problems?
Mom died of Cancer young
An orphan no knowledge of her family history
I just finished 45 days of radiation treatment
Last report Cancer free
The phone rang my Stepdad answered
Handed me the phone
"Is your Father------? I hung up
The phone rang again
It was a Lawyer in another State
"I know you are his son. We have a problem
Eldest son is Executive of the Will
"I want no part of him dead or alive."
My Step dad said a nice day for a drive
You need to know if it was from heart trouble
They would not say over the phone
I just knew when Mom died the Doctor said
she was being given blood thinners
She had a bleeding problem as i do
Because of the broken noses they could not cauterize
the bleeding and that helped the Cancer spread
We drove the two hundred miles and signed away the Estate
With the provision how did he die?
He was at a party in the front yard
A car went out of control and hit him
His final days were wheel chaired
He was alone when the fire broke out
Most likely smoking and drunk
The house burned to the ground
He burned alive in his wheel chair
Not from heart trouble, "Sharing wine with the Devil"
This was the Title I made for my biography in the making
I would be remiss if I did not mention
I have a younger sister born when I was seventeen
Mom and my stepdad had happier days
Shortly after her birth I joined the Air Force
I was told my Father gave up drinking
Married a widow with seventeen kids
If true it hardly changes my feelings towards him