Husband's Passing

My husband was a funny man, yet he saved the best for last, and was mostly serious. He passed on Thanksgiving, but had the grace to wait till dinner was over.
And as my oldest son openly wept with deep sobs, he said "I'll miss that old asshole". Some may find that disrespectful but is was most fitting. Since he had turned 13 my husband was an ass hole to his eldest son, and did not change there after. But he was the child who found him most amusing, andthe one who stuck up for him since he bacame a man. I give him credit that he ever overlooked his father's stupidity, and I recall a not so distant argument and this son yelling at this man that "he" was the one defending him and he didn't deserve it. His words ringing in my ears. he never had a kind good word for any one.
His eldest daughter, probably would concure with her half brother, because the fool never sat down with her, never spent time with her. There was no DNA test needed, she was family and it showed, in ten thousand ways. But he was a fool, he did not invest of himself in his children, he just threw himself into his first and only love his work.
And this is a fool's legacy, invest in things that can burn and blow up, but do not invest in the future. Our children are our future, and our greatest asset, investment and treasure. They are far more precious than silver and gold, polished, cut and cared for the right way they become gems more precious than the hope diamond. This is the worlds future, our legacy, our gift the nations treasure.
And so how do you measure the life of a man when he comes to the end of his road? How do measure his success in silver or gold? How do you know the measure of life as he passes along this way? you measure it in kindness and love he left along the way.
What a fool!!!! He ran into burning buildings, played with enough electricity to lite the big Apple ten times over, both literal and figurative. He did rescue work, over years on the Island, and down at ground zero. To some he may have been a hero.
And look like he had a great life. To his kids, who had looked up to him, through eyes of love, he made himself an asshole. Because he neglected his greatest treasure.