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Joined: Mar 2011
Posts: 14,720 Likes: 6
Campfire Outfitter
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OP
Campfire Outfitter
Joined: Mar 2011
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Got a call this morning from a gal named 'Mo. My buddy Mark's live-in GF for the past 12 years. "Mark suffered a massive heart attack last night. He was working on one of his Harleys with a bad indicator and called up to me to please bring him down a Phillips head driver to the parking lot. 2 minutes later a neighbor started screaming something about an emergency and to call 911. I went down and he was on his back, not breathing, fists clenched, eyes rolled back in his head, no pulse. I tried CPR and everything and the ambulance got there soon after but I knew he was gone. My life just died with my Mark out there in the parking lot. They're gonna' take anything they can use (organ donor) and then let me know. WTF do I do NOW?" Hard phone call. Driftwood/Mark was good friend despite his being an ex-biker, hooligan, long-time bad boy who finally found his way. When Mrs KG and I moved into suburban/rural NS MA about 20 years ago, he became my first local friend. The very first weekend after moving into Amesbury we went into a local dive bar. Not ten minutes after taking a couple of bar stools some redneck POS remarked that my wife and I were 'no good subhuman gooks' and that he wouldn't stand for us being in 'his' bar. The first thing that hit him after I flattened him with a straight right hand was Drifty's longneck across this guy's forehead as he tried to rise. 'I always hated this MF'er, he said. The name's Mark D, AKA Drifty, and I'm embarrassed to have witnessed that punk disrespecting you and your old lady just now...I know you ain't from around here but you got balls and a wicked right hand! You new in town, I see" He then laughed and asked, "What's your name, brother, and where ya from?" We became fast friends after that. Mark was a rough character, but a loyal SOB, and as we got to know each other, and he proved himself to be a solid, repentant former outlaw/biker/sinner. He spent almost 20 of his 62 years in the joint. Hard, hard childhood. Yet despite his horrific upbringing and abuse as a child, after some hard years and very bad choices learned that doing the right things, even if the hard things, are best. I'll miss him a great deal. RIP, brother. You were a good man and an old school North Shore badass. Godspeed.
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Joined: May 2007
Posts: 12,167 Likes: 4
Campfire Outfitter
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Campfire Outfitter
Joined: May 2007
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kamo gari; Good evening Leighton, sorry to read of the passing of your friend.
He sounds like quite a character and your remembrances of him paid a fine tribute.
My condolences as well as my thoughts and prayers to those left behind.
Dwayne
The most important stuff in life isn't "stuff"
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Campfire Tracker
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Campfire Outfitter
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Campfire Outfitter
Joined: Apr 2008
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Sorry to hear about your friend, sounds like he did a lot living.
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Joined: Apr 2001
Posts: 6,280 Likes: 2
Campfire Tracker
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Campfire Tracker
Joined: Apr 2001
Posts: 6,280 Likes: 2 |
RIP Driftwood…
Last edited by Scott_Thornley; 06/25/22. Reason: Tipsy typing
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Joined: Feb 2020
Posts: 2,891 Likes: 4
Campfire Regular
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Campfire Regular
Joined: Feb 2020
Posts: 2,891 Likes: 4 |
Due to the increased price of ammo, don't expect a warning shot...
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Joined: Jun 2019
Posts: 10,055 Likes: 11
Campfire Outfitter
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Campfire Outfitter
Joined: Jun 2019
Posts: 10,055 Likes: 11 |
Good friends are hard to come by, and even harder to lose. I can count my real friends on the fingers of one hand, with a couple left over for ones I haven't met yet.
Good looking bike- - - -If it was Crimson Sunglow color it would look a lot like my "Emotional Support Hog" 97 Soft Tail.
Ignorance can be fixed. Stupid is forever!
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Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 5,611
Campfire Tracker
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Campfire Tracker
Joined: Jan 2001
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Moving tribute only a real friend could express. Thanks for letting us know about him. Wish we could take a piece of the loss from your heart.
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Joined: Mar 2011
Posts: 14,720 Likes: 6
Campfire Outfitter
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OP
Campfire Outfitter
Joined: Mar 2011
Posts: 14,720 Likes: 6 |
Mark was the eldest of 9 kids from a broken home and the frequent target of a vicious, drunken, abusive, rapist father. Old man left with some whore one night and was killed in a DUI wreck. Mark dropped out of school in the 8th grade to work to support and feed his mother and 8 younger siblings, and did what he felt he had to do to survive. You're welcome to judge away, but the man had a good soul and was loyal to a fault and helped me a great deal over the years in lots of ways. Perhaps you've never had a friend do for you just because you were his friend, and even was willing to put his ass on the line for you, just because you and he were friends, and believed in the 'in for a penny, in for a pound' type relationship. I care not how you grew up, but if you disrespected my boy like that in my presence, you'd be having to knuckle up, son.
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Joined: May 2016
Posts: 60,876 Likes: 59
Campfire Kahuna
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Campfire Kahuna
Joined: May 2016
Posts: 60,876 Likes: 59 |
Sorry to hear.
Glad he got his shìt together.
I am MAGA.
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Joined: Mar 2007
Posts: 12,692 Likes: 12
Campfire Outfitter
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Campfire Outfitter
Joined: Mar 2007
Posts: 12,692 Likes: 12 |
Mark was the eldest of 9 kids from a broken home and the frequent target of a vicious, drunken, abusive, rapist father. Old man left with some whore one night and was killed in a DUI wreck. Mark dropped out of school in the 8th grade to work to support and feed his mother and 8 younger siblings, and did what he felt he had to do to survive. You're welcome to judge away, but the man had a good soul and was loyal to a fault and helped me a great deal over the years in lots of ways. Perhaps you've never had a friend do for you just because you were his friend, and even was willing to put his ass on the line for you, just because you and he were friends, and believed in the 'in for a penny, in for a pound' type relationship. I care not how you grew up, but if you disrespected my boy like that in my presence, you'd be having to knuckle up, son. Moral ain’t always legal. RIP
“When Tyranny becomes Law, Rebellion becomes Duty”
Colossians 3:17 (New King James Version) "And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him."
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Joined: Jul 2007
Posts: 8,210 Likes: 1
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Campfire Outfitter
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Judge people by their behavior, not their past.
Sounds like a good man. RIP Driftwood.
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Joined: Oct 2019
Posts: 1,562 Likes: 1
Campfire Regular
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Campfire Regular
Joined: Oct 2019
Posts: 1,562 Likes: 1 |
Sorry to hear about your friend.
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Joined: Sep 2010
Posts: 42,177 Likes: 66
Campfire 'Bwana
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Campfire 'Bwana
Joined: Sep 2010
Posts: 42,177 Likes: 66 |
Tough duty watching our friends go. Sincere condolences.
Make Gitmo Great Again!! Who gave the order to stop counting votes in the swing states on the night of November 3/4, 2020?
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Joined: Apr 2017
Posts: 19,810 Likes: 19
Campfire Ranger
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Campfire Ranger
Joined: Apr 2017
Posts: 19,810 Likes: 19 |
Bearing witness to another's life is a sign of honor and respect.
"Maybe we're all happy."
"Go to the sporting goods store. From the files, obtain form 4473. These will contain descriptions of weapons and lists of private ownership."
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Joined: Mar 2011
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Campfire Outfitter
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Campfire Ranger
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Posts: 18,178 Likes: 37 |
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Joined: Mar 2011
Posts: 14,720 Likes: 6
Campfire Outfitter
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Campfire Outfitter
Joined: Mar 2011
Posts: 14,720 Likes: 6 |
Thanks for the words, gents. It was always comical when he and I used to gas up and go cruising. Him on one of his many 'scooters', as he called them. We were like the Odd Couple. Him on FXLTs, Soft tails, Fat Boys, Hardtails, Shovelheads, Panheads, Knuckleheads, you name it. Me on GpZ1000s, 750 Interceptors, KZ1000s, FJ1200s, GSX-1000Rs, CB 750s, RDs, GS's and more. I never lost a race with him but he always finished laughing his nuts off and wondering where the next watering hole was...
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Joined: Sep 2005
Posts: 17,756 Likes: 4
Campfire Ranger
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Campfire Ranger
Joined: Sep 2005
Posts: 17,756 Likes: 4 |
Sorry for your lost Brother, RIP Drift
Deer Camp! about as good as it gets!
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