So a few posts ago I mentioned that things had been all over the place but I didn’t mention this. Y’all remember Terry? Linkity, linkity, OMG link, but seriously… link (reunited and it feels so good……) I’ll wait.
Let me know when you’re finished.
So I got back in touch with my first love. Mike B will swear that he was my first love, won’t you, sugar? But Terry was the one that broke my heart. Mike just left on a midnight train to Georgia or some such shit.
So Terry and I were back in contact. We’d call, we’d chat. One time he came and got me because I had a panic attack in the middle of IKEA. He retrieved me and took me for a tuna fish sandwich at Jimmy John’s. He always knew what to do.
He still had his faults. Lord, don’t we all? He still drank too much and would send me videos of him singing to me. I think he sent these videos to all of the ladies in his life. He’d sing, then want praise for his off pitch rendition of some heinous love song.
He started building his dream home with the help of his mom and dad. He bought a motorcycle. He was living life to the fullest. He had a girlfriend that was sweet and quiet. But he still had a wide tacky streak and a soft spot for crack whores. This is not an exaggeration by any means. He was a de facto father figure to the daughter of one such lady and the de facto grandpa to her little girl. The young woman’s mother would steal Terry’s cars, sell them for drug money and he would never press charges.
Quirky, no?
He worked hard. He played even harder. He’d call in the middle of the day and ask me to come over for pizza, oh, and also, could you bring a pizza? I’d always go. He was great for a laugh and I never wanted to miss the chance to see him. We’d been out of each other’s lives for so long that I felt like I needed to make it up to him somehow. Our friendship only got stronger.
He was a pain in my ass and never pulled a punch. He called me out on my bullshit and I appreciated the thoughtfulness. And the singing videos. Always the singing videos. He was a brilliant chef. I have much to say here, but I won’t. I just outted myself on FB in an online journalers group. Who knows how long it will be until my parents find this page.
So Terry never married. Never had kids of his own. He would have been a wonderful father. Caring, kind. If it weren’t for the drugs that got in his way when he was younger, he would have been an amazing father.
April 28th, 2018 Terry had a widowmaker heart attack and didn’t survive. His parents, brothers and his girlfriend honored him at his home on May 5th at 11am. I went, although I couldn’t think of anything I wanted to do less. I saw his little brother and he wrapped me up in his arms and brought me to his mother. July 2nd, he would have been 48. I miss him everyday.
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