TORCH PASSING? WHEN IS THE RIGHT TIME

When it comes to torch passing, timing is everything.

And it’s usually the wrong time.

My dad died the day after my last visit.

He’d been declining a year or more with diabetic micro-strokes. Fading off little by little, but he still remembered to smoke.

I’m not a smoker, but I was with him.

On one visit we’re out cutting wood for his winter fires, the next he’s sitting beside the fireplace under a shawl, his bony fingers scissoring a burning cigarette.

Like kids growing up faster than the blink of an eye, the old man got old in a hurry. The smallest kid in the picture doesn’t remember my dad.

Torch Passing Practice

My father in law died while convalescing with Parkinsons. I said good night, he had a stroke, and didn’t wake up.

In his eighties, he was a powerhouse who turned thin and grizzled. With luck, we all get there.

The in-between parts are the trouble spots, like today and tomorrow, next week, year, birthday, Christmas.

Those are the times for living our best lives, when torch passing means more. Don’t wait for the right time, because then it’s already too late.

Go ahead and hand namesake pieces down to the next generation when they can appreciate it.

It’s never easy.

Glenn W. Vehrs 

Glenn W. Vehrs 
Nov. 25, 1930 – Sept. 11, 2020 

Our beloved grandpa, gramps, great grandpa, step dad, husband, uncle, cousin and friend, Glenn W. Vehrs, 89, passed away Friday, September 11, 2020 in the comfort of his home in Eugene, OR with family at his side and family/friends around the country holding him close to their hearts.

Glenn was one of the good guys, the stable guys, the man my mom married. The little kid in the top image remembers Grandpa Glenn.

I talked to him through a window screen on the 10th. He was re-habbing after hip surgery. The man was on top of his game, making plans for the future, ready to heal up and get rolling.

He laughed that he couldn’t die before voting for Joe Biden, so he was a sure thing to get better.

Glenn was my step-dad. He was cut from the whole cloth of love and kindness, which he showed until his last day.

Me: You’ve been the best thing to happen to this family.

Glenn: I never asked you boys to call me Dad.

Me: You are a dad, Dad. We have witnesses that you were the dad we all needed.

Glenn: Thank you, David.

Me: We love you Glenn.

Glenn: I love you, too.

From the day I met him as a twenty-four year old man, Glenn showed my mom the love and kindness she needed. They were a good match.

He and my Dad made an effort to get along with each other. That’s the sort of torch passing my world needs more of, but it’ll get better.

How about your world? How you doin’?