T. BOONE PICKENS FAREWELL LETTER

As long as we are talking about the lessons of life; I often listen to el doggie on the radio, his short segment on women is very instructive and at the same time infuriating to listeners who hear his message but miss the whole thing because they have heard the exact opposite all their lives. He says that women do not need to be revered and put on a pedestal simply because they are women. They have natural roles, roles that have been subverted by the modern era’s emphasis on liberation. This created a need in women to prove they are indeed liberated and now they act like libertines while requiring men to still follow the old rules of gentlemen.

But this is not about that argument, it is about something else el doggie promotes. He insists that men ought to choose a woman wisely. Of course, I can’t say I chose my wife wisely. I was having a bit of trouble, being out of the loop in the new dating game, and I had a few face plants. But a Christian is not alone in the world, I imagine that God followed Anna Frise’s methodology: “I did not give you instructions on how to proceed with the assignment because after you fail, you will come back ready to learn.” I came back and appealed to God.

The wife he gave me is not the woman I would have picked ever. And yet she fit the description perfectly; I had said, God, you choose because you know the type of woman I like and who is best for me. God had a good laugh when he gave me a Salvadoran chick, after I had railed like an ass about all the Salvadorans Reagan let into the country. My wife is no upper class Latina, she is not white, her father was a black man that her white grandmother hated and derided calling him ‘negro lumbumba’, probably after the African leader Lumumba.

She is not an American flag waving super patriot. What she is is probably a libertarian. She grew up a Christian, attending Christian church from her childhood. If she is not super smart, she still has better sense than I do. To love your neighbor, she tells me, is to wish him no harm. She firmly believes in individual freedom. When I complained that somebody chose the wrong vehicle because it is a gas hog, she replied, what’s the problem if he can afford it? When I complained about a mixed race couple, she asked me, do you want her for yourself?

She really surprised me last week. I was sharing a bit of gossip; the woman at work said somebody was courting her. She had said they were both married. I told my wife that I advised her to tell her boss. My wife said I am a busybody. How old are they, she asked. Late 30’s, I guess. My wife said, they are young, leave them alone. That gave me much to think about. About my wife, about God, about people. I must have a controlling nature, my wife doesn’t. God has given us free will. Water seeks it own level and will not be denied for long. God still laughs at my expense, having given me a wife who continually shows me I still have a lot to learn about God’s nature and mercy. Those young ones will make their own mistakes and, in time, search out God when they are ready to learn.

Corporate raider against Gulf, Phillips and others. All the money in the world and you still get to leave it behind.