Here is a choice selection:
What to say about George? Certainly, no one could accuse him of having been a loving son, brother, or father. He'd gladly have stolen the shirt off your back and he was generous to a fault with other people's money. Was he a small-time con-man with grandiose schemes? Probably. But another view of him is that he was the most exciting member of his family and of the families he married into. He was a poor man's rhetorician who beguiled certain woman into buying into his promises and dreams. This latter view is lent some support by the fact that he was a United Church minister who passionately improvised sermons for congregations in Quesnel, Barkerville, Bella Bella, Greenwood, Nipawin, Sask. and Kelowna. It is impossible to say whether or not George was actually religious. Anyway, God's name rarely came up when George was flush.[...]
While George did not live well by some people's lights, it should be universally accepted that he did die well. In hospital, two days beforehand, he said he'd finished with the medical procedures he had been avidly seeking for the past few years; he said he was 'checking out'. He was completely calm and committed to the decision. The next day, we brought in some beer, toasted his life with him, drank with him, and helped him to make several thoughtful good-bye phone calls. He reminisced a bit and gave us a few unhelpful instructions. He died without pain the next evening, from a slow gastric bleed, with his wits about him and a light heart.
Turns out, his timing was impeccable: the next day we found out that he had been racking up ominous bank and credit card debts. Clearly, those supplemental incomes were about to dry up. In earlier years, George would sometimes slip out of a town after he had accumulated local debts and after the relevant woman's purse had been snapped shut. But of late, he was in no condition to skip town. And women just don't see old men on scooters as the stuff of their dreams - they see them as impending burdens. Perhaps George felt cornered. Perhaps he thought that, under his present circumstances, dying was the only way out. Whatever the story, no one can deny that George made his final exit with style and grace.
What
to say about George? Certainly, no one could accuse him of having been a
loving son, brother, or father. He'd gladly have stolen the shirt off
your back and he was generous to a fault with other people's money. Was
he a small-time con-man with grandiose schemes? Probably. But another
view of him is that he was the most exciting member of his family and of
the families he married into. He was a poor man's rhetorician who
beguiled certain woman into buying into his promises and dreams. This
latter view is lent some support by the fact that he was a United Church
minister who passionately improvised sermons for congregations in
Quesnel, Barkerville, Bella Bella, Greenwood, Nipawin, Sask. and
Kelowna. It is impossible to say whether or not George was actually
religious. Anyway, God's name rarely came up when George was flush. -
See more at:
http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/timescolonist/obituary.aspx?pid=171625687#sthash.ArXl3z8d.dpuf
What
to say about George? Certainly, no one could accuse him of having been a
loving son, brother, or father. He'd gladly have stolen the shirt off
your back and he was generous to a fault with other people's money. Was
he a small-time con-man with grandiose schemes? Probably. But another
view of him is that he was the most exciting member of his family and of
the families he married into. He was a poor man's rhetorician who
beguiled certain woman into buying into his promises and dreams. This
latter view is lent some support by the fact that he was a United Church
minister who passionately improvised sermons for congregations in
Quesnel, Barkerville, Bella Bella, Greenwood, Nipawin, Sask. and
Kelowna. It is impossible to say whether or not George was actually
religious. Anyway, God's name rarely came up when George was flush. -
See more at:
http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/timescolonist/obituary.aspx?pid=171625687#sthash.ArXl3z8d.dpuf
What
to say about George? Certainly, no one could accuse him of having been a
loving son, brother, or father. He'd gladly have stolen the shirt off
your back and he was generous to a fault with other people's money. Was
he a small-time con-man with grandiose schemes? Probably. But another
view of him is that he was the most exciting member of his family and of
the families he married into. He was a poor man's rhetorician who
beguiled certain woman into buying into his promises and dreams. This
latter view is lent some support by the fact that he was a United Church
minister who passionately improvised sermons for congregations in
Quesnel, Barkerville, Bella Bella, Greenwood, Nipawin, Sask. and
Kelowna. It is impossible to say whether or not George was actually
religious. Anyway, God's name rarely came up when George was flush. -
See more at:
http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/timescolonist/obituary.aspx?pid=171625687#sthash.ArXl3z8d.dpuf
