Julian Is Going To Die

[ThomWV]

Julian is going to die. In a loose sense Julian is my Stepfather, strictly speaking he is not. He was my mother's third husband, my father was her second. Some other guy, who was killed in WWII, was first in line. Like everyone else in the world of their age they were a part of WWII. All three of my mother's husbands served, she did too.

Julian is going to die. I was told last night that he has cancer of the salivary glands. That was a new one for me. I am told that it is a rare cancer. I would not know. I was told that Julian will not be with us for long.

Julian is going to die. I do not tell you this in search of sympathy. I am not deserving of sympathy, but my half sister who is Julian's daughter, is. Excepting an odd year here and a few months there I did not live with my mother and Julian when I was a child. I did spend a good bit of time with them though. Julian was always good to me, much more so than even simple civility would have required. I admired the man and respected him as a decent hard working fellow. He and my mother had two daughters, the younger of the two died in her childhood. He was a caring father who provided well for his family.

Julian is going to die. He and my mother would eventually divorce. He was running around with his secretary and decided to make it official. He left my mother and married the lady. It was a smart move on his part. My mother was an alcoholic. I have no idea how Julian stood living with her as long as he did, I wouldn't have. The divorce was devastating for my mother. She began to drink even more and died in short order. No one could save her, plenty of people tried.

Julian is going to die. Like so many children of WWII Julian is a proponent of small Government and a lifelong Republican. So was my father. My mother was a Democrat every day of her voting life. I guess opposites really do attract.

Julian is going to die. The wonders of the Internet found their way to Julian and so the barest of communications continued between he and me via E-Mail. From time to time I sent Julian an E-mail with news of the day or greetings on memorable dates. He never replied, but I did hear from him now and then. He (or maybe it was his bride, I do not know) was one of those people who forward unimaginable amounts of mindless tripe over the lines if that particular tripe was of a flavor they found savory. Julian never attached a note to these forward-ings, just sent them out. I found one of them Offensive.

Julian is going to die. In October Julian forwarded me that day's party line from the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth (SBVFT) one evening. As usual no note was attached. That was the forward-ing to which I took offense. I sent him an E-Mail and told him so.

Julian is going to die. Julian and I have some commonality in military service. We both served. Julian was in the Army Air Corps before it became the Air Force. He served in north Africa. I believe he was over seas for about a year, to the best of my knowledge he never saw combat. Every story he ever told me about the war was amusing. I served in the Army. I served in Viet Nam. I was over seas for 3 years and saw much combat. I never told Julian or anyone else any amusing stories about my time in service. Even with common service Julian and I had different views on military service.

Julian is going to die. Julian only sent me two personal E-Mails in his life. The first was to say that he thought I was thin skinned after my show of offense at the SBVFT tripe. The second was to acknowledge that as I had instructed he was taking my E-Mail address out of his address book. That was apparently because he was unable to find a better use for the internet than to send shit like that to me and was unable to understand my surprise to see a fellow veteran who was not disgusted by those filthy bastards spewing their lies across America.

Julian is going to die. Julian is the last of the adults of my childhood. All the others got old and are gone. I am getting old now myself. Julian is a good man and I wish with all my heart he had not taken up with the Republican Party.

Julian is going to die, and that is all I wanted to say about it.

[Karenina]

1. .

.

[Gryffindor_Bookworm]

2. You have been heard.

[phaseolus]

3. sorry

sorry to hear about this -- news like this is always depressing, not only because we miss our loved ones when they're gone, but it means the end of the illusion that they, and we, will be young forever. It's the first glimpse of the fact that we're right in line behind them...

[Bullwinkle925]

4. This is so very eloquent

Thank you for writing this. I also know good people who are Republicans and it stymies me.
I'm sorry for the news you have received.
Just your act of 'sharing' these feelings of yours seems in some strange way a Christmas gift for all of us.

[CO Liberal]

5. It's My Belief...

...that people are already dead inside when they become Republicans.

I also wish Julian had seen the light, and wish him a smooth transition to the next stage.

[wryter2000]

6. Hugs

My husband is in the hospital and will last a week or two. I have an idea what you're going through. :hug:

[TA]

7. Merry Christmas Thom

Or in todays mixed up world - Happy Holidays

[patdem]

8. You obviously care very much for Julian. Age, it seems, did not soften

his heart? My condolences to you and your sister. :hug:

[Baja Margie]

9. You know Thom,

when you meet up with him in the hereafter, he'll say, "Damit, Thom, you were right, forgive me?" And you guys will shake hands, he'll put his arm around your shoulder and say, "Heh, c'mon, I got some things to show you...."

Merry Christmas Thom.