The "So Why Were Her Eyes Drawn To The Page?" Story

It was an ordinary day.  Sitting in my lounge chair checking out the day's obituaries in the local newspaper.  What?  You don't do that?  That's because you're too young!  When you reach my age you have to see how many of your friends made it through another day, as I did.  I saw what looked like a familiar name and asked Carol if she knew so and so.  She looked over my shoulder at the photograph and said, "I think you remember him from the Hamilton Club when we used to help with Town Fair at church.  Didn't you take the prime rib over to the club for them to prepare it?"  "Yes, that's it," I replied.  Then, a second later, while still looking at the page, she said, "Oh my gosh!  My cousin died!  Gary died!"  For those of you who have been reading my blog for the past 8 years, you may remember a few stories I had written about Carol's cousin Dr. Gary Greenly who lived in Honolulu since 1987.  Gary was born in 1954 and died on October 12th of this year.  Took a couple of weeks for the obituary to find its way to his hometown of Lancaster, Pennsylvania.  I had Gary as a student when he was in 9th grade at Manheim Townshop High School.  Little did I know at the time that I would one day marry his cousin.  Upon graduation he became a beautician as his mother, Carol's Aunt Bea.  

Carol and her cousin Gary. 

Evidently he didn't enjoy that so he went to chef's school and began working in the food trades.  Once again, he wasn't happy so he became a conductor on an Amtrak train.  Wasn't long before he went to medical school and years later became an Osteopathic Doctor.  Did his residency on the island of Oahu and when his protege decided to retire, he took over for her in Honolulu.  In 1999 when I retired from teaching, Carol and I decided to go to Hawaii with five other friends and knew we just had to stop to visit Gary in Honolulu.  Wasn't long before we met him once again along with his girlfriend and her children.  He took us to his home and he and I hit it off right away, since he had two Corvettes and a '68 Camaro with a 409 c.i. engine.  Took me for a ride in the Camaro and didn't hold back.  Later that evening we met for supper at Roy Yamaguchi restaurant.   Gary, along with his girlfriend and his dad who was Carol's Uncle Leroy who had moved to the island after his wife Bea died, ordered the entire meal for us.  Had a great time catching up on years and years of memories.  We visited Gary once again a few years later on another trip to the island, but had not seen him again since that time.  

Photo I took during our first visit to Honolulu.
Gary's prized cars: two Vettes and a Camaro.

Carol was totally shocked when she saw the headline.  As we read the obituary together she said, "Who is Richard Fears?  Says he was closest to his cousin Richard whom he considered more like a brother.  I never heard of Richard Fears.  I thought it was Bobby, Gary, Ronnie and me!  I didn't know I had another cousin!"  The obituary went on to tell of Gary's medical practice in Honolulu for the past 30 years.  Seems he had patients from Oahu and the other Hawaiian islancs, Japan and mainland United States.  Everyone called him "Doc".  Gary was one of the first physicians to participate in the State of Hawaii's Medical Marijuana Program.  He strongly supported its use for medicinal purposes.  He was the physician for many movie and television stars who filmed in Hawaii as well as being a lover of muscle and sports cars.  "Doc" will be missed by so many, not just those under his professional care, but for many others.  His quick wit, compassion and generosity were his strong points.  Carol and I are on the list of those who will miss him.  And, what made me call Carol to my chair to look at the newspaper ... and her to continue down the obituary page and find Gary's story?   Maybe Gary was looking over my shoulder also and was witness to what we were doing that morning a few days ago.  Wanted to say goodbye to us.  Stranger things have happened, you know.  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.