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The Last Eulogy
Gary Handel has a problem on his hands.
After surviving the meat grinder of his divorce, his ex-wife is keeping him from seeing his kids. His attempt to rectify the situation by taking his ex wife to court, results in Gary being on the receiving end of some of the most humiliating verbal tirades and one sided decisions anyone could imagine coming from a New York State Judge. In The Last Eulogy, Gary recounts his life in painstaking detail as he watches his own funeral take place, after taking his own life. The Last Eulogy details the devastating effect that September 11th 2001 had on Gary's marriage and how it emboldened him in a patriotic fervor to change jobs and become a Federal Air Marshal. Unknown to him at the time, if he didn't pass an extremely difficult handgun shooting course, he would be fired on the spot during training and his wife would give up on him and ask him for a divorce.
From his decision to marry Cathy, whom he met after she crashed her car into the Dairy Barn where he was working, to the attacks of September 11th 2001 up until the election of the first African American president in American history, The Last Eulogy is the story of a journey of one man who tries to maintain his love for life through the battles that he must undertake to maintain his dignity, while his enemies plot and plan his destruction. Born and raised in the town of Syosset, NY, Gary Handel looks back at his life through the prism of death in griping detail. Unbeknownst to Gary, the judge who he needed to order his ex-wife to allow him to see his children was friends with his ex-wife's attorney. Thousands of dollars later he discovered that trying to see his kids was a complete waste of money he didn't have, contributing to his financial ruin. The judge, who Gary refers to as "Judge Judy" continually verbally abuses him to the point of telling him to "bring your toothbrush" to the next hearing because, as the statement implied, Judge Judy going to put him in jail if he didn't give into Cathy's attempt to extort him. Jail would surely result in his losing his job as a Federal Air marshal.
Gary looks back in death at the happy times growing up as a Yankee fan in the late 1970's. He recalls how his conservative ideology was cemented when Ronald Reagan took office and said the words "the hostages have cleared Iranian airspace."
The Last Eulogy recalls the painful breakup Gary endured with his girlfriend, who he was with for over three years and how the guy who stole her from him just happened to be the same guy who dated his older sister and his ex-wife. During the 70's and 80's.
This is the story of how Gary's worldview is shaped by the events around him, from the taking of American hostages in Iran in the nineteen seventies to the attacks of 9/11.
The question that Gary needs answered in death and throughout the book is, who is that person at his funeral giving the last eulogy at his funeral?
After surviving the meat grinder of his divorce, his ex-wife is keeping him from seeing his kids. His attempt to rectify the situation by taking his ex wife to court, results in Gary being on the receiving end of some of the most humiliating verbal tirades and one sided decisions anyone could imagine coming from a New York State Judge. In The Last Eulogy, Gary recounts his life in painstaking detail as he watches his own funeral take place, after taking his own life. The Last Eulogy details the devastating effect that September 11th 2001 had on Gary's marriage and how it emboldened him in a patriotic fervor to change jobs and become a Federal Air Marshal. Unknown to him at the time, if he didn't pass an extremely difficult handgun shooting course, he would be fired on the spot during training and his wife would give up on him and ask him for a divorce.
From his decision to marry Cathy, whom he met after she crashed her car into the Dairy Barn where he was working, to the attacks of September 11th 2001 up until the election of the first African American president in American history, The Last Eulogy is the story of a journey of one man who tries to maintain his love for life through the battles that he must undertake to maintain his dignity, while his enemies plot and plan his destruction. Born and raised in the town of Syosset, NY, Gary Handel looks back at his life through the prism of death in griping detail. Unbeknownst to Gary, the judge who he needed to order his ex-wife to allow him to see his children was friends with his ex-wife's attorney. Thousands of dollars later he discovered that trying to see his kids was a complete waste of money he didn't have, contributing to his financial ruin. The judge, who Gary refers to as "Judge Judy" continually verbally abuses him to the point of telling him to "bring your toothbrush" to the next hearing because, as the statement implied, Judge Judy going to put him in jail if he didn't give into Cathy's attempt to extort him. Jail would surely result in his losing his job as a Federal Air marshal.
Gary looks back in death at the happy times growing up as a Yankee fan in the late 1970's. He recalls how his conservative ideology was cemented when Ronald Reagan took office and said the words "the hostages have cleared Iranian airspace."
The Last Eulogy recalls the painful breakup Gary endured with his girlfriend, who he was with for over three years and how the guy who stole her from him just happened to be the same guy who dated his older sister and his ex-wife. During the 70's and 80's.
This is the story of how Gary's worldview is shaped by the events around him, from the taking of American hostages in Iran in the nineteen seventies to the attacks of 9/11.
The question that Gary needs answered in death and throughout the book is, who is that person at his funeral giving the last eulogy at his funeral?
138 pages, Paperback
First published November 1, 2011
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