11-16-2021, 06:51 PM
(This post was last modified: 11-16-2021, 06:55 PM by Drunk Monk.)
Derick was a distant cousin. He and his wife, Jane, and their daughters, Dee-ann and Deri-Jan (both names combined from their parents' names) lived in Lodi, one of two of my mom's family that lived in California, so we all got together for Thanksgiving for years. The other family were both doctors, and their surviving daughter is also a doctor. That family is very affluent. My pops was a nuclear engineer. Derick was a factory supervisor, a union man I think.
I remember hanging out with the four gals, my distant cousins, being the only boy. Derick's kids were older. The Doctors' kids were younger. We'd play dumb board games and try to interact even though we had nothing in common back then.
I've lost contact with all of them except for the Doctor daughter who is still in the Bay Area, although we haven't seen each other in years.
The doctor's other daughter died mysteriously a few years ago - I suspect it might have been a suicide.
For a while, Derick took a job near here, San Jose I think, so he stayed with us during the weeks and returned home to Lodi on the weekends. I don't remember how long that was but he suffered an accident when his hand got caught in a factory drive chain and lost his fingertip. I remember that fairly clearly because he was on serious pain meds and talked a lot about stuff. I think I was a teen around then.
I remember him fondly. He had a blunt honesty, and had that charming Hawaiian pidgen patois. He was a simple man, good natured and tough. Jane was classy, like a disciplined geisha, very refined and a spoke thoughtfully and eloquently. I always thought they were an odd couple.
I'm not sure why the Thanksgiving gatherings stopped. Maybe Derick and Jane separated. Maybe my doctor relatives got tired of slumming. They bought a mansion in a gated community built around a golf course. Their daughter started throwing some lavish Thanksgivings where they invited dozens of people. We went to one or two, but it was a long drive and too many people.
He died of bone cancer on Armistice Day. Jane called my mom last week to inform her. He was bedridden and suffering in the end.
I remember hanging out with the four gals, my distant cousins, being the only boy. Derick's kids were older. The Doctors' kids were younger. We'd play dumb board games and try to interact even though we had nothing in common back then.
I've lost contact with all of them except for the Doctor daughter who is still in the Bay Area, although we haven't seen each other in years.
The doctor's other daughter died mysteriously a few years ago - I suspect it might have been a suicide.
For a while, Derick took a job near here, San Jose I think, so he stayed with us during the weeks and returned home to Lodi on the weekends. I don't remember how long that was but he suffered an accident when his hand got caught in a factory drive chain and lost his fingertip. I remember that fairly clearly because he was on serious pain meds and talked a lot about stuff. I think I was a teen around then.
I remember him fondly. He had a blunt honesty, and had that charming Hawaiian pidgen patois. He was a simple man, good natured and tough. Jane was classy, like a disciplined geisha, very refined and a spoke thoughtfully and eloquently. I always thought they were an odd couple.
I'm not sure why the Thanksgiving gatherings stopped. Maybe Derick and Jane separated. Maybe my doctor relatives got tired of slumming. They bought a mansion in a gated community built around a golf course. Their daughter started throwing some lavish Thanksgivings where they invited dozens of people. We went to one or two, but it was a long drive and too many people.
He died of bone cancer on Armistice Day. Jane called my mom last week to inform her. He was bedridden and suffering in the end.
Shadow boxing the apocalypse
