JOE -- REST IN PEACE

Joe died last night. Peacefully. I found him on the floor. I am pretty sure he knew his time was coming. He was 88 years old. Quite a guy. He and his late wife were my neighbors. She died about 5 years ago. Joe's daughter lived and still lives in the snow in Colorado. Joe lived for the last 60 in sunny South Bay, Los Angeles County. All his connections were here and important -- especially long time friends and treating healthcare providers. Moving to Colorado was not an option...and he did not have the income to stay in his home on his own..

I had lived across from Joe and his late wife Pat and just before Pat died and my long-time gentleman friend passed on. Both died from horrendous battles with cancer. I had room in my home and my heart ached for Joe and he came to live with me. What a funny, smart, caring person he was. Smart, really smart. Had a bachelors in Electrical Engineering straight out of HS, then got a masters in math and one in computer science. Started on on a doctorate in math and found half-way through it was a choice of either feeding his then three small children or finishing the doctorate. The children were fed.

Joe for years had been a die-hard Republican. Active in Republican politics. He was in his 80s when he came to live with the biggest liberal in the neighborhood -- me. The last mid-terms? He voted a straight Democratic ticket. It was not me so much that changed him, but his love for Bernie Sanders. Something about Bernie made Joe realize that maybe the Republicans were not such a good thing.

Then Trump happened -- !!! And this was the final straw that brought Joe to re-register as a Democrat. Joe was a gentleman, well-spoken, gracious, honest and giving. Trump made him turn the corner and realize that the Republicans were not the kind of people he wished to support.

LOVE TO YOU, JOE, MY DEAR, DEAR FRIEND, AND MISS YOU WITH ALL MY HEART,

Your Roomie and the cat and dog whose hearts you also owned,.