It was 2 days and 27 years after Elvis died

My Dad died today. He was driving with my step-mother down the highway near Sebastopol, MS when he reached for something and went off onto the shoulder of the road. Evidently the shoulder had an extremely steep drop and he had to cruise along to find a spot to get back onto the road. At this point, they came upon a fence post that stood along the road. They could not properly avoid it. They knew it was going to be a bad impact. My Step-mother was not wearing a seatbelt so at the point of impact my father threw his body in front of her to absorb the impact. I believe he really loved her and I believe he saved her life. She has a badly hurt shoulder but should be ok. we are waiting to see if surgery will be required.

My father told the people that came to his aid that he didn’t need an ambulance. He then he took a deep breath and was gone. My father was a difficult man for a lot of people. He never showed me the rough side of his temperament the way he would with others. I sometimes thought it was unfair as I saw it happen. A couple of years ago a movie came out called The Royal Tenenbaums. It always choked me up because the father in that movie was like my dad. There is an exchange in the movie that always reminded me of him:

Royal: I've always been considered an asshole for about as long as I can remember. That's just my style. But I'd really feel blue if I didn't think you were going to forgive me.
Henry Sherman: I don't think you're an asshole, Royal. I just think you're kind of a son of a bitch
Royal: Well, I really appreciate that.

Like Royal, I believe he knew his faults and I believe he wanted to amend them for the most part. He was always just himself at the same time. He was difficult (in some way) for most of his loved ones, except for me. Despite this, he was the one that taught me to be a social person. Any ounce of charm or charisma I ever had came from him. You know, despite his faults...most people that knew him just loved the hell out of him.

I did too.

You know, after going to my grandmother’s funeral last year I decided not to ever let a preacher do a eulogy for an immediate family member of mine ever again. I didn’t expect to be coming up with a speech so soon.