“Joe’s gone. He passed away this morning Jeremy.” I still remember the words. But I still don’t believe it.
It was only a couple of months before this that he was helping cut tree’s on my acreage. We decided to burn them that night. We used a bunch of gas and lit it up. The sticks were wet and weren’t burning. So Joe grabbed the canister and threw more gas on it. I seen a quick ball of fire. His hand caught on fire.
I realize that a person panics a bit in a stressful situation, but a persons reasoning would have been to smother the fire with their shirt possibly? Instead I seen him do an acrobatic front summer salt that did absolutely nothing to put out the fire.
I quickly ran out and wrapped a towel on it. I brought him up to the porch to take a look and try to find some burn cream. I asked him if he wanted to go to the hospital. The burn looked bad. He told me no. He just needed his drink. Then it hit me. “Joe, what the hell were you thinking? You were a fireman! You know better than to throw gas on a fire like that!” He peered up at me from the rim of his glasses. “I wasn’t trying to put the fire out Jeremy.” I couldn’t help myself. I started to laugh.
This wit made him a very like-able person. And gave him his charm everyone seemed to love. People knew him for this. And you would have had a very tough time finding some one who didn’t appreciate it.
The night after his wake, one of his friends stopped me on the road. “Hey. How are you and the kids doing?” I could tell he was shaken up himself. Joe and this friend went back along ways. They did a lot of hunting together as well as volunteer work together. In general, they were very close. Even though they didn’t spend as much time together as they used to.
“We are all doing as good as can be expected. Thank you for asking.” As he waved and pulled away, I remembered all of the time Joe spent with the kids. He always seemed to get to them on their level. Playing with them and getting them to laugh until they almost peed themselves. He was also good at getting them to listen when they were out of line. He could get their attention. And seemed to have a knack for reading kids in a way they could relate too.
The winter before, I had an opportunity to deer hunt with him. As we were driving through a small grass slough, I seen a buck running towards us. “Deer Joe. Deer. Deer!” At the last second, the little buck leaped and belly slid across the front of the suburban. He slammed on the brakes. After a few seconds of shock, we looked at each other, and busted out laughing. “We almost filled a tag” he laughed.
His funeral was in the high school gym. This almost wasn’t big enough for all the people. His wife and family treated us as a part of the family. Even though we had the same last name, we were not related. So I was honored they did.
The previous year, I had car problems on my way home from work. “Hey bud. I’m having car issues. I was driving down the road and my car came sputtering to a stop.” “Sounds like you may be out of gas. I’ll be right there.” I looked at my gas gauge and it said 1/4 tank. I knew he knew his way around a vehicle. So I didn’t question it much. When he got there, he had a gas can in his hand. He sat in my car and looked. He seen the same as me. 1/4 tank of gas. He then jumped out of the car and lay down under the gas tank of the car. He pounded on the tank a bit and came back and sat down in the car again. “There we go. Empty.” It was out of gas. “I’m sorry Joe. I feel like an idiot.” “Meh. Don’t worry about it. It happens.”
Thinking back to that day, I knew that I had got to hang out with a legend. All of the people in that gym had their own story’s with Joe. And acts of kindness were definitely his specialty. He volunteered and was very active in helping where he could. For his friends, and for anyone that just needed a hand.
I call him a legend, because he touched so many people in his lifetime. He may not have built something great. He wasn’t a famous movie star. And he didn’t paint any great works of art. He did touch just as many people that have. And looking around that gym, I knew I wasn’t the only one that thought so. If you look in some of the small towns around where he lived, you can still see pictures of him. I know, that even if he is gone, his legend remains. And some where right now, he’s still making people’s lives just a little brighter.