67. Of Mulch and Men

A month after he was arrested, Gerry’s father died of heart failure.  He was forty-five years old.  At the time, I thought the deaths of Gerry and his parents were a colossal waste.  Six months later The Other Ken told me almost everyone in treatment when Jerry died was still sober. 

“When Gerry and his mother died, it scared them,” he said.  “They were losing a little of that fear when  they heard the news about Gerry’s dad. It helped them all refocus.”

A young guy named Croft once told me you can be the tree or you can be the mulch.  You can grow, drawing ‘smarts’ from other people’s mistakes, or you can be the person making those mistakes.  “Keep making them,” Croft said, “and life will turn you into mulch.”

Today I think I’ll be the tree.

Needles Not For Knitting is a work of fiction.  Any resemblance between the characters and anyone you might know is purely coincidental.

Needles Not For Knitting (c) 2017 by Ken Montrose

Other works by Ken Montrose are available at: http://www.amazon.com/Ken-Montrose/e/B001K8MG0S