Now they tell me Donny Gardella is dead

Now they tell me Donny Gardella is dead,
He, the laconic one, always laid back,
Mostly silent sipping his glass of beer,
Always willing to talk with you,
And damned interesting, knowledgeable too.

A brain aneurysm, he had a head ache for three days
His eyes were blood shot,
He hurt, and complained.
Let this be a lesson to us all - get your ass to the doctor
When you have one of those unexplainable aches or pains
That we attribute to the onset of old age.
There's a lot that western medicine can't do,
But a competent healer and diagnostician can save your life
IF you get to her in time.

So I teared up, immediately.
Donnie never had a death wish,
But if I were a gambling man (and I'm not)
Or a betting man (which I am)
I'd bet that he was seldom, if ever told
That he was a perfect child of God the Father
Creator of All the Worlds
Perfectly formed in God's own image
And that he was, is, and always will be
Unconditionally loved by the God of Love.
I'd be willing to be too that he was seldom (if ever)
Held close to his mother's bosom,
Or had his father hold his hand while he waited with young Donny
For the school bus to come.

He didn't have a death wish,
But, he didn't really care if he lived or if he died,
And with that kind of attitude, the likelihood of you living
Until the end of the string of the thread of your days
Is quite small - miniscule.

He had cleaned himself up very well,
Full time employed, lots of responsibilities,
Although the State of Indiana is expecting him to spend
Fourteen days in one of its county jails, and so, Donny,
My hat's off to you, for you beat that rap.

It was just that one thing
That you'd do reckless things,
Down right dangerous things,
Recognizing full well that death was a path they might lead you on,
And you didn't care;
With a full time girl friend who loved you
And waited for you while you went out drinking beers
At the one Holy Place you knew, where you WERE loved
Unconditionally, completely
And that, that dog-love for human kind,
That is special and sacred.

So we all miss you,
And we now raise our glasses to you
Donny Gardella
Blessed and Beloved Child of God.