Rocky Times - Dallas Boarding Gate

Jerreld David Morrow passed away a little after eight am this morning in Portland, Oregon.  (Asthma. Congestive heart failure. Diabetes. Gout. Cancer-- two kinds.) It was monumental.

Dave taught me how to dress; to be "cool", how to "take a punch." (Not my favorite lesson...), not to cry -- ever.

He drove me to college In his white Cougar XR 7 -- and unabashedly hugged me goodbye.

He thought I was a priss.  I thought him a Glamorous Outlaw, but I remained on my side of the universe.  I worked for a time in his restaurant after college, then moved on, to follow My path. He stopped speaking to me for a decade or two.  The world was a darker place.

When Dad died however, Dave came to "rescue" Mom. To his surprise, we were actually doing all right together.  He rejoined us and worked successfully at my company for eight years.

A singular compliment: he said "He thought he was pretty cool until he had the "difficult pleasure" of going to work for his little sister..."

"Difficult. Pleasure." Dave.

Life is a FIVE act play... We became less critical -- more forgiving --sharing the re-assembly of our self-importantly shattered family.  The work continues...

In the minutes since his death, the thousand threads of our relationship have appeared in torrents and coalesced -- a crashing tearful cataract.  Not cool -- but fifty seven years accumulating. An honest tribute, a "difficult pleasure."

You got there ahead of me Dave.
I'll catch up.

Jerreld David Morrow
June 1943 -- January 2010