We have a ‘MiddleEasy Thanksgiving Extravaganza’ lined up for you guys starting tonight, unfortunately it begins with Daniel Cormier reminiscing about Thanksgiving Day when his father was murdered in his living room exactly twenty-five years ago. If anything, this story by Ben Fowlkes of MMAFighting should make you run to your nearest cellular device and give your father a call. Set aside the fact that he yelled at you for ‘swinging like a pansy’ in little league baseball. It’s Thanksgiving time, and I’m sure he would appreciate talking to you. Look at me, giving you suggestions on how to be a better human without the subtle persuasion of religion. This is MiddleEasy, that’s just how we roll.
Check out this brief excerpt from Fowlkes’ piece on Daniel Cormier entitled ‘The Indestructible Man.’
Take Thanksgiving Day, 1986. Cormier is a seven year-old kid growing up in Lafayette, Louisiana, when his father, long since split from Cormier’s mother, is shot and killed by the father of his second wife.
You can almost imagine the way this story goes. Thanksgiving dinner with the in-laws, an argument ensues, things get out of hand. Then bang. You’ve got a tragedy in your living room.
“And the guy walked free,” Cormier says, relating the story now like it happened to somebody else. “I’m sure she was thinking, well, I’ve already lost my husband. I don’t want to lose my father too. Plus, it was his house. You know, self-defense.”
On paper, that seems like the kind of event that would immediately change everything about your life. But really, Cormier says, it was his older brother, who was 19 at the time, who took the brunt of that one, at least for the time being.
“I think I was young enough that I didn’t really know enough to really understand what happened. Then I got older and realized, hey, my dad got murdered. But I was lucky. My parents were divorced, and my stepdad had been there for me since I was about three. He was my father, really. My dad was my dad, but he was my father. He raised me to be the man that I am today.”
Now that you’re depressed for the remainder of the weekend, be sure to check out the rest of the article which discusses how Daniel Cormier’s Olympic dreams were derailed after his body collapsed and he was rushed into an emergency room. Essentially, Ben Fowlkes wants to ruin your happiness, but it’s worth it. [Source]
