His organs could no longer keep up
with the demands of his spirit

In the summer of 2025 my father passed away. He was a machinist, and from him—eventually—I learned to love scrap metal, hardware and general scavenging, and repurposing. He was an inventive, resourceful man with an indomitable spirit. His death was relatively quick—just a few days. Before that he had been heartily walking and talking. I am grateful he didn’t suffer long in his passing as he had suffered long enough with dementia. It is difficult to see someone who loved to solve problems forget whether he ate lunch or not. His sense of humor and spirit were intact until the end. He could have kept going if the container that held him had been made of titanium rather than viscera.