Loss, (Paul Harris)

I had a good friend Paul Harris died yesterday at around 61 years of age. He was a character, and he was a “drug person” he was always chasing a white woman; he knew something about everything. It shows me that you don’t have to have a perfect relationship to like someone. He submitted my BP claim, and I got 165,000 dollars a few months after they started paying. I wrote him a 30 thousand dollar check, whatever 20 percent was. I couldn’t get him on the phone for a month. When he called from Gulfport jail, he needed bail money and a ride. I went and bailed him out, went to the waffle house ,we ate, took him to his sister’s house, and went home. My wife and others never could understand why I even cared about this man, but I did. I bailed him out of one mess after another, but it wasn’t one way. About 15 years ago, I and the state of Mississippi were locked into battle on the money they said I owed; he told me to stay home he would handle it, I was apprehensive, but I stayed. He after two long days, I owed 2000 dollars from 300 thousand. So the friendship was paid back in full in one sitting. Not all people are perfect, not all have your beliefs; he would laugh reading what people posted when I was running for the Senate, people called me a racist, and many other ugly things. He said, Richard, you are indeed a friend and a type of family man all men should be; these people are the ones with the problem. I will miss this much less than the perfect man.RIP