I went to a funeral this afternoon.
It was pretty tough. The deceased was a 29 year-old young man who was my relative. His great grandfather and my father were first cousins, whatever that makes us. I served as deacon of our church with his grandfather for about 15 years, and with his father for about the last 10-12 years, so the family connection is pretty strong.
Justin was a poor student, hated school from the first day of kindergarten. He stuck it out at the insistence of his parents. He graduated and went to trade school, where he got his CDL. His grandfather and father were truck drivers, and that is all Justin wanted to be. He has been driving, pulling a gasoline tanker, for about 6-7 years. He made good money, probably $70-$85K per year, for the last 6-7 years.
About 5-6 years ago, he started having problems with his knee. Surgery revealed a tumor causing the problem. He underwent radiation treatments and chemotherapy. He continued driving up until about 5 months ago. His tumors did not respond to the treatment. Then, they discovered a tumor in his lung. Long story short, it killed him Wednesday of this week.
He leaves a widow and a 4-5 year old son. I have absolutely no idea of the financial situation of the family. There have been multiple fund raisers for the family. They have been renting my house for the last 2 years. I texted his father a couple of weeks back and waived the October rent. I don't know what I'll do going forward, but I intend to reduce the rent by about 25% for at least the next year, if the widow wants to continue living there. Family.
Someone from the company Justin drove for brought his tractor to the funeral. The picture is of Justin's son in the truck. He waved to me as I was making the picture. When his mother got him out of the cab and took him to the family seats, you ain't never seen or heard so many grown men sobbing.
I ain't ashamed to admit, I'm sitting here with a bottle of hard likker.
It was pretty tough. The deceased was a 29 year-old young man who was my relative. His great grandfather and my father were first cousins, whatever that makes us. I served as deacon of our church with his grandfather for about 15 years, and with his father for about the last 10-12 years, so the family connection is pretty strong.
Justin was a poor student, hated school from the first day of kindergarten. He stuck it out at the insistence of his parents. He graduated and went to trade school, where he got his CDL. His grandfather and father were truck drivers, and that is all Justin wanted to be. He has been driving, pulling a gasoline tanker, for about 6-7 years. He made good money, probably $70-$85K per year, for the last 6-7 years.
About 5-6 years ago, he started having problems with his knee. Surgery revealed a tumor causing the problem. He underwent radiation treatments and chemotherapy. He continued driving up until about 5 months ago. His tumors did not respond to the treatment. Then, they discovered a tumor in his lung. Long story short, it killed him Wednesday of this week.
He leaves a widow and a 4-5 year old son. I have absolutely no idea of the financial situation of the family. There have been multiple fund raisers for the family. They have been renting my house for the last 2 years. I texted his father a couple of weeks back and waived the October rent. I don't know what I'll do going forward, but I intend to reduce the rent by about 25% for at least the next year, if the widow wants to continue living there. Family.
Someone from the company Justin drove for brought his tractor to the funeral. The picture is of Justin's son in the truck. He waved to me as I was making the picture. When his mother got him out of the cab and took him to the family seats, you ain't never seen or heard so many grown men sobbing.
I ain't ashamed to admit, I'm sitting here with a bottle of hard likker.
