|
Post a reply ||
Back to Message Board
Re: Michael Gamma - Class of 1957
Submitted by Fats 60 on 30/Jun/2018 in reply to Michael Gamma - Class of 1957 posted by Fran Olson Gustafson 1965 on 14/Mar/2018
173.75.233.241
Message:
Behind the rough growl of a kind, benevolent & loving heart stood one tough Marine. I will miss you at our table along with the laughter and jokes you shared, especially joke #637 that I still laughed at after hearing it 478 times.
Today, the Lion is gone, along with the harmless roar the children in the family so feared. Behind this false facade of "One Lean, Tough Marine" was a man which, to those of us that were close to him knew differently. We knew a kinder, soft hearted, benevolent man whose generosity went beyond his family. A helping hand and a soft touch for any charity. Here is a man who loved God, Country and most importantly, his family. He was a good father, always setting a good example and being a good role model to the three son that he cherished. Yes, he was tough at times but he was always honest & fair, whether it was in business or in his personnel dealings. You dont find many men like that today so to have Mike in our family was a blessing. I will miss sharing our table with him, especially during the holidays. Aunt Carol always made sure I cooked plenty of Smelts & Garlic for Mike & me. I think we were the only two who liked and ate them. On our drive back to NY to see him for the last time we had a five hour drive to share Uncle Mike stories. One that we missed was when David Richie were little and acted up Aunt Carol would threaten them with; "If you dont behave I'm going to send you both to go live with Uncle Mike." Richie would fear going while Dave shrugged it off knowing being with Uncle Mike would be a good time. After that when Mike came to the house he come in with a roaring voice and the kids would freeze. He was good with all his nieces & nephews and today, they each have their own memory.
How can you not appreciate a man like that? Today I reflect on all the gun shows we attended. All the gun clubs we would shoot at and all those times we would solve the worlds problems. Our solutions were not very diplomatic so maybe it's a good thing nobody listened to us.
Everyone talks about of those jokes he shared. I believe I was the one who assigned numbers to them so I could ask Mike to tell us joke number 23 or whatever number came to my mind. He would chuckle and go off with whatever joke came to his mind. I think we all laughed with him more than we did with the cornball jokes.
The last few years, since moving from NY, I didn't get to spend as much time with him at the Veteran functions we would always attend. I missed that. He was the epitome of " Once a Marine, Always a Marine." Semper Fi Mike. Even we Navy guys know just what that means to serve with the Marines.
RIP Brother In-law.
Replies to this post
|
