Dying Alone

Master Chief Marvin Harris was one of the best grease monkeys on the west coast. He was the one you called when you or your Chief couldn't figure out how to fix an engine. He was the man, my idol and I'll miss that asshole till I die.

Hi, my name is Charles Harris, the asshole's son. I always wanted to be just like him when I grew up.

My father was one of a kind. There wasn't a person alive he wouldn't help. I mean nobody. It didn't matter what they needed help with. If had the time, he would lend a hand. Moving, painting, fixing a clunker or changing out a septic tank, Marvin would help.

He served in the Navy 38 years and bleed navy blue. Growing up, at times he wasn't always there but he made up for the lost time when he could. When dad came home it was always Christmas to us. He made us feel like were the most important thing in the world.

So when he died, we took it pretty hard because I think we are the reason he gave up the fight to live. He always told me family was a good thing. He told me that no matter how good your friends are, in the end family means everything. I remember him telling me time after time that without your family you're all alone. Human beings need love and a sense of togetherness with people they share a bond with, son. Friends are great but your family is everything. I don't know in our family's case.

I'm sitting here, looking around at all the people at his funeral. There must be over 500 people here and even more outside. His friends are everywhere. Some are out of, but most are in uniform. They keep patting me on the back saying, "If you need anything call." I can't help but think, how would they feel if they knew he died alone? Of course, his friends were there till the very end but where were we, his family? I fight back a tear because he always told me to be strong. But he also told me time and time again, "Without your family, you're alone."

The trouble started 18 months ago when my dad went to sick call. He wasn't feeling good and went to get checked out. They did a full work up, drew blood, panels, check lipids, the works. The kept him there over night. My mom called to check on him, he told her he was fine. So instead of my mom coming to stand by his side, she did her norm. Of course at the time we didn't know what the norm was, we were out of the house living our own lives.

What he found after his stay was, he had AIDS, not HIV but AIDS. At first he thought, it was from a blood transfusion that happened 18 years ago. But then he remembered that he had just gotten checked for HIV in his annual checkup the Navy does every year. His records showed the past HIV test where all negative, so how had he contracted it. What he was thinking next caused him to shake his head in denial, it couldn't be. Not that, not Beth.

He had been married to my mom, Beth for over 41 years. There were married a year before he joined the Navy. She was his rock. More than that, she was his soul mate. When dad had to join the service, she was the one who convinced him that the family would be okay. She'd take up the slack. They both had to make sacrifices for our family. Sure Dad had to go away and fight to protect our freedoms, but mom fought her own battle against loneliness and separation. But Holy shit did Dad make up for it when they were together. He took her everywhere and they did everything. He spoiled her like she was the most special woman on the planet. Every one of her friends was jealous of her when Dad was home. At their age most of the men were starting to decline physically but not my dad; being in the service kept him in fighting shape. Mom had more than a few lines and wrinkles on her, what 50 plus year old woman doesn't. But I think Dad still saw the twenty year old beauty he'd married all the way until the end,

The first thing he did was hit his favorite pub, Lucky 7. It was run by Cliff Jackson, a retired Gunnery Sergeant. Cliff was gung ho to the core and he told the best war stories. I would sit and listen to them for hours. Cliff knew my dad well enough to see something was wrong. My dad told him everything. Cliff gave a shot of his best bourbon. Cliff told my dad to find out the truth before he did anything.

So for the next 3 weeks my dad followed my mom. He took leave and didn't tell her. He followed her to her lover's house everyday for the three weeks. Once he got everything on tape, not sex, but the tapes showed times and dates of their meetings, he started taking action.

My mom was so wrapped up in her affair that she didn't notice the change in my dad. He wasn't friendly anymore, he was withdrawn and it looked like he was planning a life without my mom.

I, my sister Carol and her son Karl noticed the change but not my mom.

Then out of nowhere, my mom was served with divorce papers. He wanted her out the house and wasn't giving her shit. If she was going to act like a whore he was going to treat her like one. He emptied the checking and savings accounts and was ready for battle. When we asked why he did this. He told us to ask our mom. When we went to ask her, she had just disappeared. It would be ten months before we talked to her again.

My mother was in a hospice. She had less than three months left to live. She wouldn't tell us what she had, so we assumed it was cancer. We tried to talk to our dad, we begged him to come and see her. He told us to wait till she was on her last breathe then he would come and piss on her. I couldn't fathom my dad being so uncaring. So we stopped talking to him. It wasn't until my mom died that we found out the truth. She carried on a 4 month affair and contracted AIDS. Her lover knew he was infected. He left her a letter after he died and it was in her belongings and passed on to us by the hospice. It said:

Beth,

You'll die my slut. I knew I was infected because my whore wife infected me. And just like the cheating slut you are, you killed yourself and your husband. I feel sorry for him the most, because just like me, he was a trusting fool. I'll meet you in hell, "Bitch".

John

Carol and I sat there and cried. My mom let us sit there and blame our dad when it was her all along. After we got the rest of her items, we headed to our father house to apologize. But it wasn't to be. When we go there he was being carried out. He died alone. He was surrounded by his friends, they didn't abandon him. They where there till the end but we, his family. The ones that were reason he lived, we abandon him in his hour of need. My mom killed him and we got mad at him for not letting her do it. So now, I'm sitting here lonely, in a room full of people that loved my father more than his family did, we suck. I more than anyone understand what he felt like at the end surrounded by well-wishers who though they mean well don't understand the emptiness of their gestures. Without my dad, I'm alone. And he died that way.

Once the funeral ended, Cliff walked up and handed me a disc. Then he walked away. Later that evening, I played the disc for Carol and I. It showed times and dates of our mom with the other man. At the very end of the tape, my father came on. He looked right at the camera and said now you know. Don't make the same mistakes your parents did. I forgive you two, but I couldn't forgive her. Bye.

We sat and cried. In the end he proved to be the greatest man I've ever known.

*

I want to thank SS06 for his input, thanks for the help my friend. I tried to put a good twist on this, the actual persons family didn't find out till the reading of their father's will. They all were shocked by the truth. He left everything in his will to a non profit, that helps veterans.