Death in Life.

Let me explain my title. There is so much death in life. I mean, we humans, we experience the hurt of a loved one a lot before it's all said and done. That's tough.

My poor, precious Emmamonster lost another grandparent today. That's three out of four, but who is counting? **HEY DAD!!! STOP SMOKING!!!! YOU ARE IT!!! WE NEED YOU!!!

no pressure.

My ex-wife Debbie called me this afternoon and was upset. She said, "My dad died!" After all the battles, the fights, the pettiness, the tragedy of it all, I snapped to attention in full "husband" mode. I knew the man, and his relationship with Debbie. It deserved all my respect. I don't ever mention Debbie very much. It's partly because she would prefer it that way, and I've been ashamed to say anything, to be honest.

See, the cruelty of this, is that despite being a great mother, wife, daughter, and friend, she has lost the backbone of the family. Debbie is such a wonderful person, and just deserves better..period.

Not only did my ex suffer a devasting blow, but anyone connected to either one of us lost an outstanding example of what a man should be. Jerry was the toughest S.O.B I've ever been around. Let me give you a couple of examples, Jerry was shot while serving in the Navy...twice.

After retiring from the Navy in a teaching capacity, he rebuilt boats....and I mean the "Tiger Woods" types. Floating mansions. I remember Jerry telling me one time that 9 out of 10 repairs he ordered were because of someone not knowing what they were doing driving a boat....or mansion.

While working at Ross Marine, a crane fell on him. Uh, I have a great story about how I got this little scar above my eye...WHAT???? Yeah, a crane fell on him. One of those big suckers we see everyday off of I-75. The boom broke off of one of them and crushed him underneath. He took some surgery, rubbed dirt on it, and went back to work.

The only thing that defined him better as a man was that he was a devoted husband, and loyal father. From my perspective, Jerry's sole purpose was to serve his two daughters, her name is Christie, and his wife Pat. Pat died shortly before Emma was born. I believe it was September of 2000. Jerry was what most guys would call "A man's man." As far as father-in-law's go, I got lucky.

I think everyone that came across Jerry ended up better for it. I think that's the ultimate compliment. He made everyone, and everything better.

RIP