Wednesday, February 9, 2011

He never really found his path

 It's snowing steady and at a late and very dark hour, a Father works with his Son to help him repair his snow plow so he can go out and earn his living in a few hours. As they work, the Father is shivering with his poor choice of a light jacket, and the Son is quite comfortable in his hooded sweatshirt, adjusted after most of his days being spent out in the weather that the Father was no longer adjusted to.
 "OK, swing it to the right... a little more, GOOD, now drop the plow a bit." " Are you sure your fingers and toes are clear?" "yeah, I'm all clear, just drop it slowly....GOOD."
 "OK Dad, got the pin in, I'm all set, thanks."
 "OK then" Dad asks, "I'm useless here then?"
 The son smiles, "No, not useless, just finished." The Dad starts to walk away and remembers something he wanted to ask his son about for a few days. The son works long, irregular hours and they don't see each other mush these days, even living in the same house. "Hey, what about this guy I see the Memorial Page for on Facebook. I saw your comment up there. What happened to him?"
 "Oh, you mean Mark? Well, he uh, well, Wait, do you remember him? Do you know who he is?"
 "Yeah, of course I do." The Father remembered a strapping young man, in exceptional physical shape with bulging muscles. Built like a brick shithouse, he was. He joined the Department and put in some effort in the beginning, but the regular training and meetings didn't fit his 'style'. He had a hard time accepting directions and orders, and didn't last long. He had decided it wasn't for him and moved on. At least he showed some courage and decided he it wasn't for him and moved on, not like a lot of folks who try to get the rules changed to fit their needs, or hung on to just complain. This fella knew he didn't fit and just moved on. Still he seemed like a great guy with a lot of enthusiasm. he could have made a great firefighter.
 "Yeah, well" the Son went on, "I don't really know the details, I haven't seen him much lately, but apparently, he was taking prescription meds, either his or somebody else's and that night he also drank a lot of vodka, and ..."
 "Yeah, OK, I get it. I just had no idea how he died or why. I was shocked to see the memorial page. It's a shame, he could have been somebody."
"yeah" the son said, "he just never really found his path, you know what I mean, Dad."
 "Yeah, dammit, I do know what you mean. I wish I didn't, but I do. He never found his path. It sucks."
 "Yeah" the Son said, "It sucks a lot."
UU

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