Saturday, August 29, 2020, my father, Duke Barron, passed away from pneumonia. He was hospitalized for nearly a month, then went into rehab, where he passed away on a Saturday afternoon.
My father smoked cigarettes since he was a kid, around 10 years old. So that is about 63 years of smoking, adding on pneumonia, and your chances of recovery are not that great. Once my step-mother informed me of his hospitalization, I told the rest of the family, but kept to myself that I was not expecting him to make it through this.
After my father passed away, he continued to receive items in the mail, from a smoker cooker to other things, which sparked many memories and conversations on social media once my stepmother posted pictures of the packages.
My son, his new wife, Jessica, and I went to New Bern for his funeral. I tried very hard to visit with friends, including the girl the book is about, Tanya, but could not. Luckily, Tanya sent me a message and would like to see me when we go back to New Bern this Fall. I love New Bern in the Fall; it's very romantic.

I tried to visit with another childhood friend named James Lewis, but he would fall asleep, and he missed reaching out to meet up with me. Unfortunately, he would be killed in a car accident nearly a year later.

Make sure to let those around you know how much they mean to you and how much you value their presence in your life. As anything can happen, and they can be gone.

My father was a good man, but he could also be hard to deal with at times. We worked together on and off for about 10 years, doing Telephone and then Cable TV work. It was the Cable TV work that my father finally recognized that I was good at what I do. When I learn a job, I take off with it, something my father never believed when I would tell him.
Then came computers, and I excelled with them as well. Before passing away, I was the go-to person for my dad when he had computer-related issues.
He will be dearly missed and never forgotten.
Love you, Dad.