Leroy, One Last Thing

Tales of Harper, short stories and poems about the fictional town of Harper, Mississippi is available on Amazon Kindle

I can't say I really understand all that Leroy went through in his life, but I do know he never came up on that moment that caused him to shift his thinking away from pleasing others and toward taking care of his own needs. About a week before he passed away (over ten years ago) we had our last sit down conversation over coffee down at Dorothy's cafe. He spoke of regret, mostly about what he had not done for others. He said his intentions were good he just wasn't able to accomplish his goal of making their lives easier. He was referring to his wife and children and though I did not know it at the time he was also talking about his lover, Fritzie. I asked him if he had any regrets about his own life. And he said, "None." When I pressed him he admitted that he had not found true happiness in life. That little quote from Polonius in Hamlet, "This above all--to thine own self be true." came to mind but I held back and let Leroy do the talking. He said that he had come to the conclusion that it would have been better for everyone if he had confronted Sumaye right when things started to fall apart. He said he feared it would lead to a breakup of his family. Now he said that may have been a better choice than living a live of discord, deception, and despair. He said it may have been better, even for Sumaye, who had been put or kept in a position where she could take and never give. Leroy looked me in the eye and said he could not imagine anything more horrible than knowing you did nothing but take from others. Like I said, I can't really relate to Leroy's situation. In my four marriages, I only had one major conflict and that was settled when my third wife ran off with that tent preacher. The decision was taken out of my hands. My other three wives and I got along just fine. Leroy never came to that point in his life where he saw a better path. Or if he did see it he never took it. God bless Leroy.