A Guy I Used To Know Pretty Damn Well

[Perknose]

. . . died a couple of days ago, from bladder cancer. I hadn't seen or talked to him in years. He used to be a member of my church. They'll be a memorial service for him Saturday. You can bet I'll be there.

Folks were talking about him on my church's listserv. I chimed in.

[FONT=georgia,serif]I befriended Wes in the late 1980's. I was gobsmacked by the humble circumstances in which he lived. Divorced by that time, this brilliant engineer was renting the tiniest of rooms in a big old stone and wood house in Germantown. His personal possessions could have likely fit in one cardboard box. All his funds were earmarked for his remarkably talented daughters, the loves of his life.

I can still laugh as I hear him in my mind, casually complaining about one of the housemates with whom he was forced to share a bathroom -- a younger woman with apparently appalling personal hygiene habits who worked, when she did work, as a kids clown and who was unwittingly cultivating a mutant eco-system in her car.

I will forever remember Wes for the magnificent sailor that he was. Etched on my mind is a picture of Wes, proud and erect, captaining the catamaran at Schroon Lake. Alone on the boat, at a magnificent clip and with a strong wind at his back, he was bringing that boat home.

He's home now. Wes is home. All his rough seas are behind him. Wes Norcross was a good man.[/FONT]

 

[SandEagle]

sorry to hear man. if u need anything, let me know.

 

[RavenSEAL]

Seems legit. I would get rid of the word "erect" though, no pun.

I'm sorry for your loss :\

 

[Hugo Drax]

Why visit him now that he is a corpse? Won't do him any good. You should have visited or talked to him while he was still living. Kind of pointless now.

This is why I want no service when I die. Turn me into ashes and spread it in the sea.

Funny how only after someone dies, everyone comes out from the woodworks to see the corpse, but never around when the person was a living being.

 

[Locut0s]

Seems legit. I would get rid of the word "erect" though, no pun.

I'm sorry for your loss :\

No need. Sounds perfectly fine the way it is.

Sorry to hear that Perk! RIP.

 

[Locut0s]

Why visit him now that he is a corpse? Won't do him any good. You should have visited or talked to him while he was still living. Kind of pointless now.

This is why I want no service when I die. Turn me into ashes and spread it in the sea.

Funny how only after someone dies, everyone comes out from the woodworks to see the corpse, but never around when the person was a living being.

While I agree somewhat with what you say it also completely ignores basic human psychology. People, as a rule, don't think of death. They don't think, oh I should visit X I haven't seen him in a while, what if he dies and the last time I saw him was 2 year ago. It's just not something that crosses people's minds unless the person is already old or ill. It's just basic human nature. And coming out to "see the corps". Come on now, that's just called paying your respects.

 

[Perknose]

Why visit him now that he is a corpse? Won't do him any good. You should have visited or talked to him while he was still living. Kind of pointless now.

This is why I want no service when I die. Turn me into ashes and spread it in the sea.

Funny how only after someone dies, everyone comes out from the woodworks to see the corpse, but never around when the person was a living being.

Funeral services are for the living, the survivors amongst friends and family. Wes had two amazingly talented daughters -- one a classical musician and one a working, SAG actress.

It'll be great to see them again, and I already know they'll be more than a few former church members from "back in the day" who'll be making the journey from afar to be there . . . from the West Coast, the South, and even from Canada and Mexico!

It will be a joyous affair, a loving testament to a good man's life, and as stirring an affirmation of life itself as we who are unbowed and still breathing can make it.

 

[Locut0s]

Are you still religious Perk?

 

[Number1]

Sorry for your loss Perknose.

 

[slayer202]

I think Perk needs his own reality show. I'd watch

I'd settle for a radio show

 

[janas19]

Sorry for your loss! He sounded like a decent, interesting person. RIP.

 

[lxskllr]

My condolences.

Edit:
Btw, nice eulogy :^)

 

[GuitarDaddy]

RIP Wes!


And condolences to those he left behind!

 

[BrokenVisage]

RIP

 

[manimal]

When I think of the term gentleman scholar I think of OP.


Sorry for the loss.

 

[UberNeuman]

Cancer is a real bastard.

My condolences.

 

[Joseph F]

Anima eius et animae omnium fidelium defunctorum per Dei misericordiam requiescant in pace.

 

[Locut0s]

Cancer is a real bastard.

My condolences.

It is indeed. The stats are scary too. Something like 1/3 to 1/2 of all of us will be diagnosed with it at some point in our lives. Knowing my family history I'm sure it's how I will die.

 

[lxskllr]

It is indeed. The stats are scary too. Something like 1/3 to 1/2 of all of us will be diagnosed with it at some point in our lives. Knowing my family history I'm sure it's how I will die.

If it wasn't that, it would be something else. No need to fear cancer. It's just another path to the inevitable :^)

 

[Locut0s]

If it wasn't that, it would be something else. No need to fear cancer. It's just another path to the inevitable :^)

Yes but there's an almost sinister quality about cancer that strikes fear in people in a way that other diseases either lack or they don't elicit said feelings as strongly. There's something about your own bodies tissues turning against itself, about the way it spreads through the body undermining one organ after another. Then there's the horrible wasting away you see in so many cases. It reminds me of the line from The Second coming (I know it has nothing to do with this)

Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;

 

[WelshBloke]

His personal possessions could have likely fit in one cardboard box. All his funds were earmarked for his remarkably talented daughters, the loves of his life.

To me that says a lot about the guy. All good as well.

 

[slayer202]

Yes but there's an almost sinister quality about cancer that strikes fear in people in a way that other diseases either lack or they don't elicit said feelings as strongly. There's something about your own bodies tissues turning against itself, about the way it spreads through the body undermining one organ after another. Then there's the horrible wasting away you see in so many cases. It reminds me of the line from The Second coming (I know it has nothing to do with this)

Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;

With each passing day, more forms become more treatable. Just gotta hope you don't draw the short straw before we figure out how to beat it

 

[Locut0s]

With each passing day, more forms become more treatable. Just gotta hope you don't draw the short straw before we figure out how to beat it

It's very slow progress though. And some forms like pancreatic cancer, some brain cancers, some bone cancers etc are still an almost certain death sentence. And not a pleasant one either.

 

[skyking]

Sounds good, Perk. Have a great celebration of his life. :thumbsup:

 

[SP33Demon]

Hopefully he was a Phillies fan too! But seriously that was a kind write up for your bud. I'd do the same for my friends when it's their time and vice versa.