The Gail I Was Named After

One summer we went to the cabin and discovered that one of the fuses in the electric box wouldn’t work, so we couldn’t turn on the electricity.  Dad had to drive back to Christopher Creek to buy a new one.  We were all tired of riding in the car and didn’t want to go back with him, so Mom finally agreed to stay at the cabin with us while Dad went back.  It usually took about an hour to get to Christopher Creek, but this time Dad was gone a lot longer.  It seemed kind of scary being in the woods without a car or electricity anything. 

Late that afternoon dad finally came back with the fuse.  "Why did it take you so long?" Mom asked, a little concerned, a little angry, and a lot frustrated.  By that time she had begun imagining all kinds of things that could have happened to Dad, and she had also been kind of scared. 

 Dad explained that he had met his old school friend, Gail Shelley, at the store in Christopher Creek and had visited with him for a while.  I don't think Mom was very happy with the explaination, but she didn't say much more about it, just went to work getting dinner ready for us now that we had electricy.

Later that night, after we kids were all in bed asleep, Dad told Mom the rest of the story.   Gail Shelley had been dad’s best friend in high school, and he and Mom and had even named me after him, athough they changed the way they spelled my name.  They thought since Gail Shelley spelled his name with an "i" that must be the boys way of spelling it.   They were wrong, but that's another story.

Anyway, after graduating from highschool Gail's life had gone down hill.  He had some hard experiences, and he begun to drink.  When dad saw him at Christopher Creek, he was hanging out at the bar / grocery store, and he was drunk.  It sure made Dad feel bad to see his old friend in that kind of shape.  It was even sadder, not too many years later, when Dad learned that his old best friend had committed suicide.  It was a sad ending to sad life, and to Dad's old friendship.