Paul K. McDonald, 1932-2005
Thanks to everyone who commented and/or emailed me to wish us well following the tragic and untimely death of my father in law, Paul K. McDonald. I got back into town early this morning on a late night flight that was delayed two hours and ended up as a red eye and came in a bit late to work this morning. Heidi (aka Mrs. Xrlq) and Ryan (aka Baby Xrlq aka Xrlq 2.0) are staying with the family for a few more days while I hold down the fort. While there is no antidote for the grief caused by the death of a loved one, a frequently giggling, perpetually smiling baby is about the closest thing there is. If only Grandpa had had a chance to meet him, which was supposed to happen today. Adding even more cruel irony into the mix, yesterday was my mother in law’s 70th birthday.
All three of his daughters delivered beautiful eulogies at his funeral on Monday. I can’t match what they said, so I won’t try. In fact, having had the privilege of knowing Paul for over a decade, I’m quite sure that if he could come back to life just long enough to say two words to me, those words would be “please don’t.” He hated funerals, and the only thing he would have hated more is to hear a bunch of people say too many good things about him. So all I will say is that was a delightful human being, a brilliant man and an excellent writer to boot. He didn’t have a blog, but I have no doubt he would have if FDR had invented at least one of the Internets while he was young enough to learn to use them. Here’s a sample of his many fine works. I may post more in the future.
July 28th, 2005 at 12:10 am
Wow. What a story.
You’re famous, X, for having known this guy.
July 28th, 2005 at 1:59 am
What a neat story. Your father in law must have been a delight to be around. Btw, you are absolutely right about one’s children helping one through difficult times. There is something magical about our own kids.
July 28th, 2005 at 6:21 am
Great story. My sympathies on your loss.
July 28th, 2005 at 10:24 am
My sympathies to you and your family.
July 28th, 2005 at 2:18 pm
Excellent story. RIP Mr. McDonald.
July 28th, 2005 at 3:23 pm
[...] [...]
July 29th, 2005 at 4:41 pm
[...] In a short post, xrlq points us to a hilarious story his father-in-law wrote about the time he was Chief Justice Earl Warren’s student host at Harvard Law School. We look forward to more; it’s a great tribute. [...]
July 30th, 2005 at 10:15 am
I remember having read that story somewhere before. Wow — you’re his son-in-law! ;-)
August 27th, 2005 at 1:43 pm
I am Sally Lou’s bridge partner. I saw Louisa Stone today. She told me about your webpage and this story. Thank you for sharing with us. And thank all of you for being such a wonderful family for my friend. Your son will learn to know and love his grandfather because your family knows this is important.
The love and support of family and friends surrounds Sally Lou and all of you.