Not Fallen, but Risen

The service for my friend Myles was yesterday. His family had a Patriot Honor Guard escort them to the Memorial. They opened the service with the song Sentimental Journey, one of Myles favorites. Then there were various readings from the Bible plus a short sermon from the pastor. I am utterly humbled that Deb's brother, John, read my post from this past Thursday at the service. What an honor. Thanks Deb. Thanks John.

I've spent a lot of time in reflection and it ranges from laughter to tears. His sense of humor was tremendous. He enjoyed laughing at all the funny things in life. He liked the TV show MASH a lot. Think it had to do with his love of things military. Just before our last visit he sent me the ball cap pictured here. His wit was quick and he found positive aspects of most everything. This man was a genuine good guy. He was a tremendous patriot, loving husband and a good friend. And you know what? He smiled. A lot.

Remembered one time (a long time ago in galaxy far, far away) we'd gone to a friend's house and it was snowing like crazy. Please remember this was in my purple haze years. Myles really didn't go through all that. My brother was there and said it'd be a nice day to water ski. Everyone laughed. Then Ricky Joe Ballard said he'd gas up the boat and we'd all go to the Mississippi River if brother Dan would ski. Please bear in mind brother Dan didn't even go to Vietnam and he had purple haze years extraordinaire for a while. He grew out of it and has become quite successful in life with a great wife and 3 adult children. You wouldn't have thought things would have turned out that way on that cold, snowy day. Brother Dan the Wild Man is now known as Daddy Dan. He is a very sober Christian family man and has been for many, many years. Back to the tale at hand.

We launched the boat. It was cold, colder than a well digger's butt. Said man with a shovel could have climbed up to the top of his project and see polar bears on the horizon that particular day. The idea was that Dan would take off from the shore. He! He! He! Ha! Ha! Ha! He did not wear a wet suit. We all agreed Ricky Joe would get him up on the slalom ski and then slow down mid river and let him sink. Can you imagine a large ski boat with six people rolling around on the floor laughing our butts off? When we finally picked him up he was red as a stop sign and wanted to be mad. But he busted out in laughter too. I remember that Myles was laughing so hard there were tears in his eyes. He immediately took a liking to my brother that day. He always asked about him when we talked.

Myles had many friends. Most I did not know because of the distance between us. I did know a few. He was active with the Commemorative Air Force aka Confederate Air Force. They fly vintage airplanes and have many machines for display at various shows and museums. Myles pride and joy was a Vietnam era Duster. There is a very similar one pictured in my last post about him. His friends in the CAF High Sky Wing honored him with a missing man formation during the service. You can see it here:

CAF MISSING MAN FLY OVER FOR MYLES MAGNESS

I shall really miss him. He helped me overcome problems when shadows of Vietnam would creep back into my life. He helped me become stronger and influenced my constant pursuit of optimism. Folks, a super fellow has crossed the bar. I shall really really miss him.

"Give sorrow words; the grief that does not speak whispers the o'er-fraught heart and bids it break."
~William Shakespeare