Last Mango In Paris 8/16/09

Well, tonight's blog is not focused on pirates or the sea, or even treasure. Tonight's entry is about our heroes. Those people who have mentored us into the pirates we are today.
When Jimmy wrote this song, he expressed a great love for the man who set him on his course to find his treasure.

I went down to Captain Tony’s to get out of the heat When I heard a voice call out to me, “Son, come have a seat” I had to search my memory as I looked into those eyes Our lives change like the weather but a legend never dies He said, “I ate the last mango in Paris Took the last plane out of Saigon Took the first fast boat to China And Jimmy, there’s still so much to be done I had a third world girl in Buzios With a pistol in each hand She always kept me covered As we moved from land to land I had a damn good run on wall street With my high fashion model wife Til I woke up dry beneath the African sky Just me and my Swiss Army knife I ate the last mango in Paris Took the last plane out of Saigon Took the first fast boat to China And Jimmy there’s still so much to be done We shot the breeze for hours As the sun fell from the skies And like the sun he disappeared before my very eyes It was somewhere past dark-thirty When I went back to the head I read upon the dingy wall The words the old man said I ate the last mango in Paris Took the last plane out of Saigon Took the first fast boat to China And Jimmy there’s still so much to be done Why don’t we wander and follow la vie dansante

So tonight, as I spend my last night of summer break, sitting here I am reminded of my two heroes who put me on my path to treasure. There have been so many people who have inspired me to pursue this quest for my buried treasure, from my parents and siblings to famous pirates like Mel Fisher, who's mantra "Today's the day," has kept my head afloat in difficult times. But the two I am going to focus on are my grandfathers. Men who along the way have led me to become the man I am today.

Through all the lessons I have learned in my time upon the seas of life, most of them have been taught by these two outstanding men. Both alike but yet world's apart. George Maidment may not have been considered a great man in his wordly possessions or in his career. However, this man was rich beyond belief. He found his treasure and never let it go. Having read a lot of posts about the county fairs back home, I remember watching him shake hands with almost everyone it seemed like. His treasure consisted his family who loved him, his friends would do anything to help him and his pride. Until the day he died, he wanted to be sure that everyone knew he was honorbly discharged from the army because he wanted people to know he was a good man. Silly how that piece of paper meant so much to him and so little to everyone else. He didn't need to have a piece of paper to show people how rich he was. As to how he inspired me, he taught me about nature, about fishing, about how stand tall when things don't go your way and that someone far greater than anything in this world created the oceans and gave individuals the desire to sail upon them.

James Mowrey helped shape the adventure in me. I don't know how he encouraged me exactly but I know that he too knew what his treasure was. He was the one who taught me about real life. He taught me about love. Even after calling every girl or woman I was with by the same name, he was always there to support me when life had difficult decisions to be made. I remember sitting in the hospital with him and the advice he gave me that I still try to uphold. He said to me, "When you find the one, Treat her like a queen." His treasure, I found out later while spending one of those inspirational walks along nature's coastline, was my grandmother. And even though he lost his treasure, he kept pursuing a treasure to not replace the original prize but to ease the pain of losing the ultimate booty.

I could never give enough credit to these men. But as I said, this was my end of summer tribute to the two heroes who gave me my map and sent me on my voyage. And there's still so much to be done!