This morning I attended the funeral of one of my childhood next door neighbor kids. Jim Jones was 54, and found out just a couple of months ago that he had pancreatic cancer....this type of cancer is almost always a sure death sentence, because you usually don't have symptoms until it's to late to treat....this was Jim's case, he noticed the stomach problems in September...and by then the disease had spread.
Jim was the youngest of the 4 Jones brothers, along with a youngest sister who were our next door neighbors at the first house the folks bought after we moved back to Ohio....we were located just outside the small lake community of Montezuma, Ohio. Jim's older brothers Bob(jr) and Jerry were, along with Rick Pearson, my best friends during our high school years....from 1963 through our graduation from Celina High School in 1967, and until Bob and I joined the military in 68....we were pretty much inseparable. The Jones brothers, especially Bob, Jerry, and the next oldest Chuck were into fast cars....Jerry especially had some power houses....
The most memorable car experience with the Jones boys(and we had many car adventures) was with Jerry, on the day after I returned from Vietnam...July 1, 1970, if I recall. I was back after a year over the pond...and ready to have some fun....Jerry had just purchased a 1970 Dodge Super Charger 440 'Six Pack'....after a few bottles of ripple, MD 20/20 or some other rot gut, Jerry hauled out the Six Pack and we hauled ass around town.....pulling 'hole shots" and running the main street of Celina....the local cops finally got wind and tried to pull us over as we headed out of town....I remember looking over as we headed down US 127 towards Montezuma...the Odometer was buried at 150...talk about the "telephone" poles looking like dots"..they did.
As the story goes...and yes a true story...we got to the Jones house, changed cars and pro ceded to hit the bars around the lake before heading home around 2AM....Bob Sr was waiting on us....and was ready to kill Jerry, he didn't but the Sheriff Patrol was soon paying a visit...You had to be there...Jerry lost his license for six months...I enjoyed the rest of the 30+ day leave and headed up to Rome, New York, for my final Air Force duty....this is just one of the exploits Bob, Jerry, and I had...almost all involving alcohol and cars....nobody said we were smart, but we survived, and that in itself was a miracle.
Jim was the quite younger brother...never married, bought the family house when the parents(both still alive) moved to Celina, and was a dedicated Church going Christian...a nice guy in all sense of the word....
I had not seen Jerry since 1984( he had moved to Southern California in 1977), Bob and I had drifted apart some 30 years ago when Patricia and I moved to Wisconsin...although we remain friends, we have seldom seen each other since I returned to Ohio in 1980, Chuck is one of my mechanics, so I still see him all the time.....in the times of sadness and family tragedy, we always seen to finally get around to meeting up again.....Weddings and Funerals seem to be , sadly, get together time. Growing old really sucks sometimes.
God Rest Your Soul Jim, I'm sure you made your destination.
Bob, me, and 3 other guys traveled to Lima to join the Navy in the spring of 1968....Bob and 2 others signed up...another friend of ours Ed Bonifis, and I went downstairs to the Air Force Recruiter....and joined there...life on the sea just didn't sit well with us...so Bob Jr ended up in the Navy, I ended up a Sky Cop
JUST RE READ THIS POST...HAS TO BE ONE OF THE MOST POORLY WRITTEN I HAVE DONE....BUT WTF? You get the drift, I hope...I'm not doing it over. :}
(1970 Charger, much like the 440 Daytona Six Pack Jerry owned, Bob Jones and I on our first leaves home, Christmas of 1968, Jim Jones funeral handout}
10 comments:
You and I are at an age where this sort of thing happens a lot. I try not to dwell on it but I can count a lot of people I have known who aren't with us anymore.
Sorry dude for your loss.
I lost a good friend to pancreatic cancer two years ago, and I now have a brother in law with spots on his lung and thyroid...it's hard.
Sorry about your loss, Pat. As The Hermit (sorta) sez, we're at an age where we attend a lot more funerals than weddings. It's the natural progression of life.
re: ...nobody said we were smart, but we survived, and that in itself was a miracle.
Dang. I hear that! My idea of a good time back in '68 or so was to ice down a case of beer in the back seat of my SS396 Chevelle and go looking for drag races on US 90 just outside the gate of Keesler AFB. Both the Chevelle and I survived through the grace of God. God protects little kids and drunks, so the story goes. I was both, at the time.
Memories are like that. They're organized in our heads differently than we'd organize verbal communication and it's hard sometimes to translate them.
I'm sorry for the loss of your friend. Cancer is a terrible thing and has taken too many family members from me...
Keep him in your memories, Pat.
"a few bottles of ripple..."
I don't think I was drinking yet, but just the mention of ripple cracks me up.
Seriously, Pat, I'm sorry for your loss, and I appreciate your service to country.
Thanks for stopping by my blog. I'm a McCain fan, and was so early this year when it was less popular than today. The Arizona Senator's pulling up neck-n-neck in New Hampshire. It's exciting.
Who are you supporting?
Thanks all Jim was one of the good guys, although his brothers and I were the Hell raisers....
Don..I'm not sure whom I support yet....Hunter and Tom Tancredo fit my views, but have no chance of winning....McCain is a hero, but I have many problems with his views...I like Thompson as well....Rommey is slick, Rudy is a true liberal, and the Huckster reminds me of another asswipe Arkansas Governor who plays to his audience....Ron Paul is rigth on 80% of the issues, but the 20% "Let's Blame America First" views turn me away...
So, I'm still waiting for someone to step up......STAY TUNED!
Loved those "hey-days" of the REAL Dodges, when they were still referred to as a MOPAR!
Build somethin' like that today, and it'd never make it past the "on-paper" stage---too many "Al Gore Greenies" on the loose! Wonder what THEY do for fun???
Interesting points, especially about Giuliani!
He is liberal, but amazingly he really does have the next toughest foreign policy after McCain. In fact, Giuliani's got some heavy neocons advising him, so (being a self-professed neocon) I'm interested to see how things play out for him.
Frankly, I don't think the GOP's going to get a Reagan conservative this year. Romney's the most business-like of all the candidates. I like him, but he's a little unseasoned. I just like McCain's stature. I think I noted earlier that I've differed with a lot of conservatives on immigration. I live in SoCal, and believe me it's diverse, and that's not even mention my college! I also can't stand all the multi-culti La Raza junk. But seriously, I don't think 12 million aliens are going to "self-deport," and I don't think the federal government should be in the business of rounding them up and sending them back to Mexico in cattle cars. If people think we've got a Bush neofascist regime now, wait until we have mass deportations.
In any case, a little Friday night ranting for you. I'll have a post on the neocon attack by Michael Desch at the American Conservative tomorrow. Here's the link:
http://www.amconmag.com/2008/2008_01_14/cover.html
Michael C. Desch, "Declaring Forever War," American Conservative. I apologize in advance if this is your thing, but I just can't stand the attacks on the neocons, from any quarter!
I enjoy all sides Donald...but there are those out there that go way overboard to either discredit or give to much credit to one candidate or the other...
As for me, I like Rudy or terror...but his social leftist stands I can't and won't embrace.
Shit man, that was a great post. I love reading about the adventures and fun you guys had back in the old days. It's the best tribute you can guve to an old buddy, taslking about the fun times. Very sorry for your loss, but life is a terminal thing. We're all gonna go. I just hope I have buddies who sit around and have a laught after I go and that there are good times to think about. Great post.
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