IT'S COLD WAY DOWN THERE, I MEAN IT'S CRAZY COLD WAY DOWN THERE

PEACE

If its peace you find in dyin...

And when dyin time is near...

And when I die

And when I'm gone

There'll be one child born

To carry on

To carry on

Blood, Sweat & Tears

Most men live lives of quiet desperation!

Henry_David_Thoreau

Well Henry says nothing about women!

And I could attack that message a hundred different ways, with a hundred different examples and yet...at this point in the history of the human being there are billions who must be questioned first and we just discovered that Gallup of all people cannot be trusted!

I am sitting with my son.

It is the end of 2011.

We are downing beers and listening to my cache of Bill Burr among other comedians.

We laugh and exchange stories/lies; hahahahah

He is telling me truths about how he and his buddy would steal cigs from me and such when he was a kid.

And I just...off the cuff tell him that I am sure that I do not have that much time on this planet.

(don't get into some idea that I have been diagnosed with anything for chrissakes! Frankly I cannot really understand why I keep waking up each morning. Hahahaha)

And his eyes open wide.

And he tears up.

And he starts yelling at me.

WHAT THE HELL DOES THAT MEAN?

And I told him I have been smoking for over half a century and my body is failing me and ….

He does not stop.

And I am amazed.

I mean somebody actually cares that I am still breathing!

All I kept thinking was:

Somebody actually cares if I stick around for awhile as they say!

This was all before Noela of course.

Although as I look back at all of this; I think he knew that he was going to be Dad.

After I found out, I began every email to him with the salutation of 'Dad'.

And I sign off as Gramps!

Now I have so many thoughts and emotions when I think of these things.

My daughter surely loves me but never really liked me. Hahahaha

But my son, my son has always loved me and liked me.

I accomplished one thing in my life though.

Both my son and daughter are good strong dems.

And my daughter made sure that her hubby (who is a saint in my mind anyway) is also a dem. Haahahah

And both my kids are hard workers.

They know the rules.

They were both working in my office by age 14.

Seany was terrible of course but Erin was typing and getting yelled at by me at an early age.

I always pontificated.

LIVE YOUR LIFE LIKE A REPUB. ALWAYS KNOW THAT NOBODY WILL EVER HELP YOU DO ANYTHING.

And then vote for the dems. Hahahahahaha

It is so funny when your kids grow up...I mean really grow up.

Seany was upset a month or two ago.

He phoned and told me that Noela would not let anyone hold her except for Mom or Dad.

I told him that would go away.

It did of course!

Auntie and all the good relatives can now hold Noela with impunity.

He called me a few weeks later and asked for my advice.

Why anyone would ever ever ever ask me for my advice is beyond any logic I ever learned all these years.

I told him that he must pick Noela up every single day; he must kiss her and tell her that he loves her.

She will not 'understand' for a couple of years, and yet she will definitely 'understand'.

Understanding is cumulative!

And one might actually be rewarded for the cumulative.

Anyway, I received this pic yesterday.

And then I heard some Blood, Sweat and Tears....

And I began thinking of my mortality in a different way.

When I was ten, I was really afraid of death.

I thought about it all the time and the nuns and the priests were of no help whatsoever.

When you find yourself in your 60's...

I mean whether or not you live to your 70's or 80's....you are still going to die!

Just bundle up my coffin cause it's cold way down there

I hear that it's cold way down there

THE END