FOLIO OLIO: NEWS AND STUFF

Gentle readers,
I have lost another dear friend in the span of a week. When you hang around a place with a whole bunch of old warriors, you kind of get use to death. One of the stories I heard tonight was form an old man who also had an older brother (a parking lot attendant for...oh...EVER) who graces our jamb from time to time. I asked how he was and in the course of the conversation this old man told me this story about his older brother.
While sitting in a cinema on Dec. 7, 1941, a man ran in and screamed that Pearl Harbor had been attacked and that we were at war. The man, then a mere child, ran out of the theater toward home only to discover his older brother on the street already selling the "Extra, read all about it" copies from the newspaper. Good story that.
But the two gentlemen who died this week were top of the line.....meaning people I could actually hold prolonged conversations with.
But your sympathy is not the point....humor in the midst of grieving is the point.
There were many unusual things that occurred tonight, but here are a few.
First, before he died Karl left instructions that tonight the drinks would be on him; meaning he provided for a bar credit before he died. This should tell you something about what a classy guy this man was.
Therefore, the drinks were flowing freely and everyone....EVERYONE...got a pretty good buzz on.
The second friend to die this week was a man I have mentioned previously. He was the oldest man in the bar, therefore I always....ALWAYS....told him good night....like he was the Godfather....which in a way he was.
He also was one of the best football players to play for the University of South Carolina and was a member of the All Century Team, which is a really, really big deal. He also played for the NY Giants for a while.
Anyway, he was also very, very funny, therefore you know he and I hit it off right away.
Legion regulars have noticed that deaths come in threes. It seems that when a regular dies, two more deaths follow within weeks....maybe not regulars, but important people we all know. It's uncanny. I mean that. It's like waiting for the other shoe to drop. Weird.
Well, the Legion has a "Bar Committee". It consist of four people. These people make decisions about prices, hours, etc.
So, tonight the Chairman of the Bar Committee came up to me and said, "You know about the rule of three?" I said that I did. He then said, "You do realized that two out of four of the Bar Committee of which we are the only two survivors have died this week."
I took a deep breath, then said, "Well, motherfucker, you better take real good care of yourself, cause I'm getting a ride home and going straight to bed after I check the smoke detector!"
That, dear readers, is what's called "Dark Humor".

An afterthought: Sharing this with you somehow makes this easier for me. Can't explain it. Just is.
Live well my friends...and tell all those you love that you do. That's kind of important...write that shit down somewhere. You'll thank me later.

That's my luggage combination!!!!