A VERY SPECIAL KELSO'S NUTS
When a man reaches middle-age he can probably count the number of true friends on the fingers of a Polish butcher. Oh, your Uncle doesn't mean your drinking buddies, or the guys you play Publishing League Touch Football with or the guys you see at investment conferences, and certainly not the cunting guys your wife or girlfriend makes you hang around with on your precious weekends. Kelso means the kind of friend who would do ANYTHING for you and for whom you'd do anything with no questions asked and no judgements. Does any guy out there have more than 3 of these kinds of friends?
Whoever does can consider themselves very lucky. Kelso had 3 and he's now down to 2. Who knows the cause: depression, alcoholism, the strarn of having made and thrown away millions after having left school at 11, maybe it was the pressure of excellence or the pressure and disppointment of excellence gone by 46. Whatever it was we're down to spilling beer. And tears. And wondering what's in store for the 6 and 8-year old girls he leaves behind. And his parents.
John McCain would probably say in support of the odious Goodlatte bill "well, another gambler got what he deserved," has Straight Talk draws down another million in credit from Caesar's Palace. So, Kelso guesses there is a political component after all. Kelso has not yet lasted a day since this shit happened without crying. Now multiply that by the number or grains of sand beach factorial and you have Iraq. And this is cool with everyone? It's certainly cool with apostates Lieberman and Albright and Remnick....Especially Remnick. Did you cry when Michael Kelly went down? Nah, didn't think so.
Just when exactly are our "leaders" and journalists going to remember than it's one finite life and things have a way of going wrong at the drop of a hat?
What's so funny about peace, love and understanding?
Kelso's Nuts love you.
2 comments:
I'm sorry, Kelso. There's nothing that makes that better. Just sad, and I'm sorry.
And you're right- REAL friends are hard to come by. My friend's father gambled away everything they had and then killed himself- because,he wrote, that he ruined their lives. They would rather have him though, even with the problems. It is a very difficult disease to understand, its a compulsion for some people and society does not see it the way it is. Some people just get hooked. I am sorry for people when this happens, its a painful lifestyle.
Take care, Kelso.
Lily:
Thanks for the kind words. Every kind word means a lot. This has kind of sent shockwaves through the gambling community because he was so well known in England, Las Vegas and even Atlanta.
The few of us who loved him did what we could from each of our perspectives (I advoctated psychotherapy, medication, and a harm-reduction program of alcohol treatment), but I can say proudly that none of us did any "tough-love" bullshit with him or hurt his feelings in any way. As things turned blacker and blacker from last Spring we were there to pick him up when he fell.
He was an absolute delight and a friend in all ways. I was with him in Las Vegas two days before it happened and he was making me laugh and making me happy even then when god knows what torment was coming to the surface.
[Wherever you are, my son, you missed some delicious root beer floats at Johnny Rockets and some lairiness in the 5-10 NL HE at Caesar's the day you decided to do it]
Nobody who ever met him ever forgot him. His intellectual gifts, charms, and generosity of money and spirit were amazing as were his demons and compulsions.
Thankfully, the newspapers missed this one! So, the whole family and all his friends have had some peace on this. No idea if the British sporting press has twigged but I hope not for his parents' sakes.
Post a Comment