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John was a man in my ward (Mormon congregation). When my parents moved here to Georgia from Long Island, New York, some 15 years ago, he gave them a boisterous welcome and crowned them "Honorary Rednecks," complete with a John Deere cap for my dad. He was the master of the wildly improbable fish tale and loved to regale any audience with stories, stories and more stories.
He had a joke and a kind word for everyone, always. And he was a giving soul--when I was in a position to ask the ward for help for a needy member, he was the first to contact me with an offer of assistance, along with an "if anyone ever needs anything, please let me know, but please don't tell anyone." I figure I'm safe in breaking that confidence now, here. I know that I truly appreciated his vote of confidence in me at a particular point in my life.
He was highly intelligent and well-read, although I imagine that his good ol' boy persona led a lot of people to underestimate him. He was a successful business owner.
I guess it was about two months ago that we heard he wasn't doing well. His wife said he had been diagnosed as bipolar years ago, but she'd rarely seen anything but the high-energy, happy side through all their years of marriage. And then he started having some mood swings and depression. As the doctors fiddled with his meds, he became almost catatonic, ultimately slipping into a coma.
Just last week he was diagnosed with Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease. They took him off life support, and he died today.
I wish you could have all known him. The world's a poorer place without him. I have tears running down my face as I write this--we didn't even get to say goodbye. Bye John, you're already missed. There is a case of someone I wish I'd told how special he was while I still had the chance.
Posts: 3149 | Registered: Jul 2005
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My condolences to you and all who knew him. There seems to be a shortage of genuinely good people, and it is a sad thing when they are gone, although you know that the world is a much better place because of the differences that he brought about in the lives of the people around him.
Posts: 369 | Registered: Apr 2007
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It seems so surreal. C/J? That's something you read about in the news. I thought they were going to get the meds figured out and he'd be back with us like new again. But I always have been something of a Pollyana, I guess. His wife really wasn't ready for this, that's for sure. Not that anyone ever is, but . . .
Posts: 3149 | Registered: Jul 2005
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