the black suit

So I have a black suit that I bought in Prescott.

Wish I could say it was for looking smashing for job interviews.

This guy I knew back when I was in high school working at the hardware store. He was a WW II veteran, and I kind of looked up to him as a surrogate father. He was always nice to me. He also got along with my parents, and they stayed in touch frequently for dinners and such after I moved on.

He finally retired from the hardware store about seven years ago. It wasn't the same without him at the service counter. I don't know what he did in his retirement years.

But around the beginning of the year, I heard from my folks that he had pancreatic cancer. I know that is not a good cancer to get. Then the beginning of the summer it had spread to his bones.

A couple weeks ago, I had heard that his wife was beginning to make arrangements with the funeral services here in Fountain Hills. He was in hospice, but was in so much pain nobody could touch him.

Saturday morning during the yard sale, my mom mentioned that she had heard that all his kids were in town, and Friday afternoon they took him out of hospice to "go home".

When the yard sale was over with, we learned that he had died around 5 Friday night. He was only home for just a couple hours before dying. But he was home with his wife and children nearby. I suppose that isn't too terrible of a way to go.

Since we knew his widow had been making arrangements for a couple weeks in advance and their children all in town, boyfriend helped me take dad's suit to the dry cleaners. I made sure my best friend could take me shopping for a black suit.

Turns out the service isn't until Thursday. I haven't been to a funeral since I was 18, so I suppose it had to happen sooner or later.