Friday, January 23, 2009

Remembering Mac Hall

I wish I had a happier way to wrap up the week, but my brother-in-law's father, Mac Hall, died this week in Quito from a sudden heart attack. For those of you looking for the manga-style, now-defunct college life comic Mac Hall, I'd be willing to trade damn near every one of those pages to be able to have Mac Hall laughing again over rum drinks and food with his family. Honestly, I don't know what I WOULD give on any level of sacrifice, but I'd give a lot. Mac was a good man, and he'll be missed.

Mac was one of the rounder guys. I can't give any other impression of him than "round" - his features were always warm, comforting, and he gave the impression of both sturdiness and intelligence. Conversations with him were always intelligent and fun, and though I didn't get to spend much time with him, I saw the family that my sister married into, and he was a strong, deep part of their lives.

Mac was sixty-eight, but he wasn't "old". He'd remarried, moved to Quito and lived at 12,000 feet, happily living his life with his new wife. He spent time with his kids and grandkids when they could get together, and we spent time over Christmas on Skype chatting with him.

I think what saddens me most about Mac's passing, and the reasons I'm thinking more about him these days, is that we've spent thousands of dollars in our lives trying to recapture youth and energy, and the lives we lead are targeted always towards the assumption that there'll be a tomorrow.

Sometimes, there just isn't. The good news is, Mac, when I saw him, lived his life completely - that he didn't leave something off until the next day. The important things, I mean. Telling someone they're loved - if they are - is one of the most important things you can do.

Live life today, because tomorrow, you may be in Valhalla.

5 comments:

claude said...

Thanks for remembering Mac. I just heard about it myself. Mac was one of my oldest friends, since 1968 and before his four wonderful children were born to him and Sheila Giesler Hall, his wife of many years before he went down to Quito to restart his life.

I can not even begin to describe the many fine times I spent with him, starting out in the Haight Ashbury of San Francisco, where I met him.

I ran into your posting while searching for a website of his writings that he used to maintain. Don't know if that site is still active, but he was a gifted writer.

Mac and I "stole a lot of horses together" as the old gypsy saying goes, back in the day. We called each other Brother, and I'll always cherish his memory.

Claude Hayward (chayward@plateautel.net)

claude said...

I last saw Mac up at "the Land", near Covelo, CA, where we have reunions of folks who lived there back in the 60s and 70s. This was just a few years ago, and he brought his new wife from Quito, who was a lovely warm woman whose name I unfortunately cannot remember. Also Present was Janice, his eldest child from before Sheila, who was also there and I think maybe Kathleen and Maura were there also, but not Miguel and Ira, iirc.

A whole lot of folks you never even heard of will miss him dearly. He was a very fine person who touched a lot of people in his time.

Mac was also an avid amateur golfer who routinely hit below 80, and he was a softball pitcher with a blinding pitch. He threw snowballs underhanded and there was no dodging his throws. Mac was also an avid gardener, and fed those kids for many years from his gardens at their home in Santa Rosa CA.

claude said...

Here's a link to something he wrote back in '99 with a little history of his earlier years. You will see what I meant about his writing gift.

http://www.hearthshire.org/tributes.html

the password is spyrock if you need it to get in there.

This piece is one of many on that website he had of his writings. Hope it is still maintained.

claude said...

OK.

This is the URL of that old website of his, but it is no longer active, which is a real shame.

http://users.adelphia.net/~jdesigner/macirons/index.html

claude said...

One last thought. Sheila hipped me to this new addy for that collection of Mac's writings:

http://home.comcast.net/~jdesigner07/macirons/

Enjoy.