Thanks for sharing these stories. Keep’em coming if you got them.
Yes, please keep these stories coming. They are great to hear.
[quote]Laurie wrote:
Doc loved to grow epiphyllum and probably had thousands in his back yard. The last time I saw him, Doc said his wish was to live to see them bloom one more time (they only bloom once a year in the spring). It breaks my heart that he didn’t get his wish.
He gave me several plants a few years ago, and I’ve always loved them, but this spring I’ll be so happy to have them bloom again because I know it will make him happy.
RIP, dear friend.[/quote]
If there is consolation to be had, it is that his epiphyllums, after years of careful tending and propagation, bloomed that final summer as he had never seen them bloom before. There was one species with small, delicate white flowers that bloomed at dusk: an explosion of blooms, all smelling of vanilla and musk, that were gone by morning. But there were also flowers of purple and red, yellow and orange, and wild combinations of these. Doc took especial delight and wonder in this, and I am tempted to think that these gorgeous plants, in gratitude for his devoted ministrations, gave him a magnificent sendoff.
Doc had an elderly black Labrador named Tommy.
Tommy had been a rescue, and had been rather badly abused, so he didn’t immediately trust people. When visitors came over, Tommy would stand between them and Doc, voicing his distrust in a stream of loud baritone barking. Tommy and I became great friends, and I cared for him for a week when Doc went to visit Push and Ryan in Montana.
Doc loved that dog more than I think he loved most people, and the feeling was clearly mutual. One of my fondest memories of being Doc’s house guest was our early-morning, afternoon and evening walks with Tommy around the neighbourhood, or down into the wild canyon near Doc’s house. Tommy would be the first to wake in the morning, and he would paw my bedroom door until I got up. There was a leash law in Doc’s neighbourhood, but Doc never attached the leash to Tommy’s collar: Tommy would dutifully carry his end of it in his mouth, obeying, like Doc, the letter of the law, if not necessarily the spirit of it. I never wanted to miss these walks, because each one would spark another conversation, which would often be continued over either coffee or cocktails, once we got back to the house, depending on the hour.
After learning of his illness, Doc made arrangements for Tommy to live with one of his neighbours, a kind woman who had taken care of Tommy in the past.
I only hope he’s doing all right. He’s lost his best friend, too.
[quote]DrSkeptix wrote:
http://yubanet.com/scitech/Michelangelo-Hid-Anatomy-Lesson-in-the-Sistine-Chapel.php#.VGAdxr6LTX8
Note that God’s legs are crossed, as they should be, at the decussation of the pyramids, caudal to the pons.[/quote]
Doc’s last post on T-Nation.
Appropriate last words from one of the brainiest, and godliest, men I have ever known.
This thread is a pleasure to read.
This is extremely sad news to see while stopping in. And, just shocking. Granted I’ve been away, but I never would have saw this coming. It is frightening how quickly this thing can take people.
I always thought of him as absolutely brilliant, cultured, and a gentleman. The peek into Doc’s life from his friends here confirms as much.
Varqanir, Push, Chushin, and others…You do your friend much honor in this thread with your testimonies. Thank you.