"Uncle Don"

If you don't want to read sad, sappy shit about people dying then stop reading. Sorry, I just gotta get it out.

Well, we got a call today about one of my dad's oldest friends, Don. Apparently, he passed away either yesterday or last night. He was found with a needle in his leg. We knew that he'd been battling his addiction for years, but I wasn't sure if he was still using nowadays. I think he started using heroin when his wife divorced him when I was still in middle or high school, can't remember, really. He's been to rehab a couple of times, I think. We tried to visit him and keep in contact with him, but he didn't return phone calls and would only occasionally hang out. My dad stopped calling after a while, because who likes to be in a one-sided relationship?

This is a guy that would run around our old house in Savannah with me on his shoulders when I was 2 or so. I should note that he was 7 feet tall, so this was a thrilling thing. He would also throw me up into the air and let me fall onto the couch...stuff like that. His enormous frame actually broke said couch and throughout my childhood I remember that couch being held up with books on one end.

So, I feel very sad today. I don't know if he chose to end his life, or if it was accidental. I'm also pretty damn angry that he did this to himself. We all have our addictions, though. We just hope that they're not that destructive. I'm just baffled that he could let something take that much of a hold on his life. I mean, it's not like he was some loser with nothing, he had a good job and was able to travel a lot. I suppose the divorce just sent him over the edge, it just took him a long time to fall all the way. Anyway, I'm glad I knew him. He was a nice guy. I have a hard time trying to understand people when stuff like this happens. It's not a movie, not on a screen, he was a real person that knew me longer than just about anybody. It makes me angry that he felt so horrible that he could do this to himself and it also makes me angry that I didn't try to help. Of course, I was just a kid in his eyes, anyway. Maybe it would've helped. But I can't think that way. I can't blame myself for someone else's doing. God damn it. Fuck heroin and all that shit.

This better be awesome

Cause it looks like it will be.

Smokin' Aces