SOMEONE DIED SATURDAY MORNING                                                                 

BY GENE KIRK

He wasn't a very impressive person in the end. He was

enormously overweight, diabetic, and had a

bad heart. He lived off the system, had no money, and had

alienated his whole family. He was

totally alone except for a few friends who lived in the low

income facility with him. He was so alone

that there wasn't even anyone to place an obituary in the

local paper. What would be the reason? No one

cared anyway. He died and was cremated and his ashes are

somewhere, who knows where?

But it wasn't always like that. As a matter of fact, his

story was sort of like a fairy tale. He was born in

Berwind, W.Va. on May 11, 1948. Berwind was one

of those isolated coal mine camps tucked away in McDowell County. It was full

of rough and tumble coal miners of all nationalities and his parents were a

part of that hardy breed. He was a mediocre student and took a lot of flack from the other kids because he was effeminate. You can well imagine what it was like to be

gay in the fifties and in a school full of hillbillies who looked for any reason

to kick someone's butt. I'm not casting aspersions because I was born there too

and was just as stupid at that age. However, I began defending him at an early age and did it

right up through high school where I was suspended for clobbering a guy who was

picking on him. Well, maybe it was more for elbowing the male teacher who grabbed me from behind.

Nonetheless, he was in misery until he graduated. then a remarkable story began to unfold. He attended a cosmetology school and discovered that he had an amazing ability with hair. He

began working with a local beauty shop and in a short period of time began

entering contests and winning them all hands down. Soon he opened his own salon

in Daytona Beach, Fl. and his shop became the "in" place to go. He continued his success by graduating to national contests and accumulating huge trophies which he proudly displayed in his

ever expanding business. His fame spread to the entertainment business and movie stars who were shooting new movies in Florida began to call him to do their hair for the movie sets. Universal Studios in

Orlando responded to the actors' requests and even tried to hire him to take over their cosmetology dept. He was on top of the world. Until, he took a misstep.

Somewhere, during the course of his success, he was introduced to cocaine. Thus began the demise of a

great career. Over a period of time, he lost the drive that had sustained him all those years and decided

to close the salon in Daytona. He was hired by Daytona Beach

Community College as the head of their cosmetology dept. but, over time, lost

that position too. The demon took him to the bottom. When he ran out of money, he began borrowing from his brother and his Aunt, until they no longer wished to help him support his

habit.

My first cousin, James Michael Kirk, died July 19,

2008, age 60, Destitute and alone. My Aunt Jo had

visited him in the projects not long ago and found him with no food and

asking for money. She went to the grocery store and stocked his cabinets. She knew that she should not

give him money, even though he was swearing that he had kicked

the habit. No one trusted him anymore.

I am writing this as his obituary. I think that it is a far

better memorial than someone just listing all of his survivors and giving his

birth and death dates. If just one person reading this can turn their life

around then his death becomes meaningful and not just another

wasted life. Show this to someone you may know who needs help and someday you may not be writing that

"Someone Died Saturday morning".