The Wait is Over

I've missed two posting dates now (November 15 and December 15) and I know you're all wondering if I've given up the site or if I'm just lazy. Or maybe you read the October column and put it together, on October 17, 2007 my grandfather passed away.

It happened in the early morning, sometime around 1:30am in Texas, but I was in Manhattan staying at Holly's house when the call came in to me. I was in the big city for a presentation that I was giving to the Real Estate Board of New York. It was an important presentation, but circumstances got to me and I was mostly lost during the whole day. I should have been home.

George Jack Dorris was a great person and loving grandparent. His accomplishments changed the world, but that was mostly before my time; I knew him best as the devoted grandfather that was always interested in my life. Even when nobody else was interested, he pursued me, sometimes to the ends of the Earth, to catch up and find out what was going on in my life. He visited me every semester of college and would have traveled all over to see me had his heart not started to fail him. His first heart attack was 1988, but this was almost a positive event because it turned his life around for the better, but the second wave of heart failure recently kept him in Richardson for the last few years.

Meanwhile, my life path took me to far away Ithaca and I didn't get to spend as much time with him as I would have liked. I guess people always say that because maybe it's always true. There are many things we would have liked to do together, but our time is not unlimited.

The speaker at the service was Melvin Warren, who did a good job. Also, he went to Oklahoma Baptist University, where I attended some classes as a guest when visiting a good friend. I had good times there and I respect the institution as a result of my friends that graduated.

On the whole I can't say much about the experience, not as much as I'd like to say anyway. I don't think anyone likes funerals and there just hasn't been enough time for me to come to terms with his passing.

Crow