Poem re-dedicated to my life-long friend, George Aloysius Geist (3/27/1937 - 8/10/2022) RIP
Two Gentlemen,
Met on Max Patch,
Just a tad,
Below the sky.
Two Gentlemen met
On Max Patch
Hav’n Traveled far
and nigh.
One that would,
Talk your ear off,
Tuther,
With big ole’ ears,
Their chatter,
And their laughter,
Would bring a body tears,
Of old times,
New times,
Good times,
Of times a’ running out,
Next time you see ‘em up there,
Give ‘em both a shout.
Known each ‘chuther forever,
Both with big ole eyes,
Where’d their journeys take ‘em,
Under Appalachian skies.
Like brothers to one another,
Brothers-in-laws for sure,
They’d traveled a’ways from Rocky top,
Buena Vista and Howard Road,
They talked about everything from fixing and karting,
They knew bout all’st you need a’ know.
Two gentleman,
Met on Max Patch,
Buddies-in-law,
‘Bout same age now,
One not the other,
Being older,
Hit don’t matter,
Anyhow.
Cause up there on Max Patch,
Just below the stars,
They’d just a soon’s meet up there,
Their journeys’ who they are.
REQUIEM IN PACE:
The journey to friendship is short and sweet.
I met George when I was a freshman in High School. He married my sister. I am so, so, so glad he married my sister, Ann. He quickly became my best friend in life. So many things we discussed and did and so many things George taught me over the years. What they both taught me was that love is enduring. Love is inseparable. I don’t know two people more in love than those two. I don’t think they ever spent one day apart and as Al reminded me, they always held hands as they hiked. They both love the Smokey Mountains. I live in the Smokies.
Ann and George built the house they lived in and raised their children together. They maintained their business together. George the genius, could fix anything! Lord, who am I gonna call now when my car makes a strange noise?
Need I remind you that though gone before us, George’s Spirit lives on in each one of us. What will I do? Well, for one, I will tell people and write about how I once knew a kind man, a man of faith and love, with a captivating smile and sense of humor, so considerate of others, helpful, smart with an extremely high common-sense IQ, a friend of many. I will tell them he loved his wife and family and God. I will tell them, I knew George Geist, and that we met once or more on Max Patch.
Today, we come together to see George off on his new journey, only to join him later, God willing and to pray in God’s name “Requiem in Pace”, my friend George. We come also to offer our prayers of support and goodwill to his wife, Ann, he has left behind, my dear and only sister, Ann. Ann, we have you in our prayers too🙏
tom tenbrunsel
8/14/2022