To paraphrase old Will Shakespeare....all the world's a stage and the people on it are merely actors in a play. They each have their entrances and their exits....the story is what goes on between the two.
A good friend of mine died last Wednesday morning. Danny Teague had lived with AIDS for the past seventeen years, much longer than most who have the disease. The last five years or so saw many close calls where we all thought it was over and done. Then I'd get a phone call: "Hi, Alan, it's Dan Teague. I'm still alive. Are you surprised?" I'd laugh and tell him that he was a tough guy to get rid of. "I guess there's still people out there I'm supposed to harrass," he'd say.
Here's what his obit said today:
Danny passed away on April 23, 2008, following a long illness. He was known to all who knew and loved him in the last years of his life as a fighter and a survivor.
A native of Shreveport, Danny dedicated his life to art. Educated at LSU in Shreveport, he became art director of KTBS-TV and later worked in Houston, New Orleans, and in Los Angeles, he worked in the animation department of Disney Studios. In Shreveport, he held the position of music director for All Souls United Universalist Church. In 1998, he was the graphic artist for Christmas-in-the-Sky. A source of great pride for Danny was in 1999 when he won the coveted Best of Show award given by the Shreveport Bossier Advertising Federation.
Other than his art, Danny celebrated with unquenchable passion meteorology, Mac computers, music and movies.
Movies...he always worried that he'd die before getting to see Parts One through Three of the Star Wars movies. He got to see them all and said that the scene with Yoda in a light sabre fight was the funniest thing he'd ever seen. He'd bust up laughing just talking about it.
I'll miss the long conversations I had with him, sometimes up to two hours long. We'd both rant about the state of the art world in Shreveport which we both agreed was not as good as it could be (we were actually a lot more graphic about our feelings than that). Even though Dan was gay, you'd be surprised at how conservative his political leanings were. He already knew I was a conservative so we were able to talk at great length about how we felt regarding the USA and the world. When I first went to Australia in 2003, he asked that I get him a stuffed Koala bear and a T-shirt which I did (and Jonnene helped me pick them out in Perth), and he was so happy to get them. I sent him one of the few actual invites to my wedding (most people in the States got announcements) because I knew he'd be pleased and it'd cheer him up.
One of his prized possessions was a yellow Volkswagen Beetle (the new version) that he kept for a couple of years. He had to sell it once his illness had become too much to allow him to drive anymore and I know that had to break his heart. He also loved new computers and new gadgets, and had a wonderful setup in his house with his Mac and other cool stuff. Most of all, Dan was an excellent graphic artist in the electronic mode and nearly everything he designed was high in quality and workmanship. The man was talented...I can't be anymore complimentary than that.
Anyway, I'll miss the guy. Knowing him was definitely worth the time taken.
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