TERRY MOSHER
TOP OF THE TOWN – My emotional touchstone has always been Hank Williams. He carried me through my dark years. If it wasn’t for him, I would not have made it. He sang from his heart, sharing his experiences, good and bad, with his listeners; one of his biggest listeners was me. I could sing most of his songs. My kids put their hands over their ears when I sang. I thought I was good. I sang in a Western Band once, riffing on Hank’s songs. As you may know, Hank died on Jan 1, 1953 (my mother died the same year and left a pre-teen with a void in his heart that is still there). Hank was 29 when he died and is considered the best country writer-singer in history. I accidentally stumbled on the movie, “The show he never gave” on Pandora and it broke my heart again. He was scheduled to give a show in Canton, Ohio, but died in the backseat of his car in West Virginia enroute to Canton. After watching the movie, I am brokenhearted once again. This has more to do with just losing Hank and my mother, although my sorrow lingers. Before I watched the movie today (Sunday, April 19), I discovered presidential polls that show if the election is held today, Mafia Trump wins in a landslide. That completes a heartbreak trifecta for me. I have reached the emotional bottom. Depressed. Sure. But not depressed enough to suicide. I don’t have to worry about suicide. My doctor doesn’t give me a lot of time left. I’m not looking for sympathy. We all die. The frontline Moshers have either reached the end – the oldest, Minerva died at 81 13 years ago, my oldest brother Ray died almost two years ago at 92. Ronnie is 90 and has dementia (he’s in good physical condition and is in our school’s hall of fame for his unbelievable contributions in four sports – football, basketball, track and field and baseball and David will be 87 in November and should be in our school’s hall of fame. He was a great high school basketball player despite being double and triple teamed as a 6-2 post player. I never reached the heights of my brothers because of a situation I had no control of, although I fought hard to avoid what happened to me. I could only dream of what could have been, but now those dreams will soon end. My end comes as a double whammy. Not only is my expiration date straight ahead, but the fight I have waged to stop Mafia Don Trump from gaining power once again is likely lost. The good part is that I won’t be here to see him destroy our democracy and become an evil dictator. The bad part is my family will have to endure through what is coming. That is another heartbreak for me. The only thing I can offer is my love for all of you. Don’t quit, fight back. Maybe some day I will see you on the other side.
Be well pal.
Be careful out there.
Have a great day.
You are loved.