A LETTER TO LIVE BY (Past, Present, Future)
I sent this letter to 48 State’s largest high schools, attention to the principal. I also sent it to the White House, Dept of Education, probation departments and not a Thank You or Hi, yes or no.
My name is Gary McIntyre, and I am what we call a “Novel” speaker. My only reason for being here is so that each and every one of you can make your life as good as it can be, and hopefully avoid the pitfalls of life.
You see, your schools teach you information that you can use to make money, they emphasize “Rules and Regulations,” and that’s appropriate. You have to have that kind of atmosphere to learn. But here’s the thing, one of the problems they don’t really advise you on is “how” to live your life. I suppose they can leave that up to religious people, to the individuals that uphold the Law and Order of the world, or even to your parents. However, some people, don’t have good parents, and that is a shame. You might be labeled already by other people, don’t believe it! We label ourselves all too easily and we are in a constant state of change and you have the ability to improve your situation. Encouragement is the MAGIC word; if you can’t get it from the outside world, create it for yourself. Whatever you think you are today doesn’t mean you’ll be that tomorrow. I’m just finishing my life and it’s shocking to look back on the changes that happens in 71 years. Learn to get along in the world because the world is you too! Other people are different but that’s you too! You have a spirit that wants and desires to connect to it’s self, it will, if you seek it out. This is where true happiness lies. Remember this: I can only point the way, this is your job, your life.
I want you to understand that you cannot live your life without trouble, but a person who is calm, can make the right decisions. I would like a show of hands from those who think they might have a problem now. It doesn’t matter whether others know about it or not. We have social workers, psychologists, psychiatrists that can help you out of a crisis situation or to overcome your trauma.I know you all can’t wait to just get out of here and live your own life-but all I want to do is caution you. I know you, especially the seniors, are biting at the bit to get out and live your best life, I just want you to all be a little better prepared. Our great President Ronald Reagan said, “Trust, but verify.”
Now I think it’s time to tell you a little bit about myself because you can learn from my mistakes. In 1968, I was 18 1⁄2 and I dropped out of college. There was a draft going on and we had a war in Vietnam-a stupid, selfish war that didn’t mean a thing except to increase our military standing with the world. Draftees were lined up against a wall where a drill sergeant would come down and say, “Army Navy, Air Force, Marines,” and even though I sure as heck didn’t want to get drafted. I had read a book on helicopters and gathered just enough information to pass the flight test by three points, and since I had enlisted, I was able to choose the best career path for me, which was to be a helicopter pilot with Huey Helicopter.
I completed one year of training and was sent to Vietnam shortly thereafter. I took bullets in the air craft, and in the tail rotor, and was lucky enough to live through it both times. But we were flying over the villages, villages filled with farmers and their wives, their daughters, their pigs, chickens, and buffalo, and with two machine guns on either side of us putting out over 600 rounds per minute, you can imagine the devastation that was caused. It affected me at the time, but it was War. The real trauma happened when I was discharged, instead of doing four years, President Nixon decided to wind the war down, and instead offered everyone a two-year drop if we wanted to take it, and I did.
Simply put, war is not humane, it is insanity.
After being discharged, I spent about three months living on the streets in New Orleans. I smoked hash, did peyote, and then I took LSD, and that is when my life really changed for the worse. My life and personality changed horribly. I ended up with severe depression, that lasted for many decades, because of the bad trip I had, which can especially happen when your setting is not comforatable. You may be asking yourself, what was my bad trip about. Well, my life flashed before my eyes. I saw myself at five years old, twelve years old, all the way up to when I was 19 killing all of those people. What I took from that trip was that God was showing me my Hell, and there was gnashing teeth and true terror when God cast me from Heaven to show me my Hell, and that threw me into a major depression that didn’t allow me to live fully.
The Lord allowed his Holy Spirit to enter into my body, in order to give me His plan. He told me to do this for the sake of the young. Drugs that are misused is a dead-end, literally and figuratively. If you choose to use tobacco and alcohol, you must ensure that you put rules and regulations on yourself. Another thing to look out for is sexuality. When I was young, you couldn’t die due to intercourse, but now a days, the wrong partner can kill you in more ways than one.
The first time I was married, I thought it was going to be for life, however, after six years, my first wife left me. Even though we had the best interactions, it didn’t matter, our marriage was a dead end. We were amicable people, and therefore the end wasn’t as bad as it could’ve been. We got one lawyer to represent us both, each splitting the costs and only paying about $400 apiece, my ex-wife got
our child for the school year and I got him during the summer, and I can truthfully say, that at 45 years old, he is one of the most well-adjusted people I know.
My second marriage last for five years, and she was a completely different kind of woman, causing the marriage to end in irreconcilable differences. My daughter, who will be 31 soon, was only three years old at the time, and the last time I talked to her, she was about six years old. Her mother would not only never let her talk to me, but she also withheld the presents, and cards that I sent to her, instead she taught my daughter to hate me, and if it wasn’t for my work, I would’ve been even more broken than I already was.
I tell you all of this to say that, you want to make sure that you love your work, because that can be your saving grace. I was a builder all of my life and I could do everything that involved building a house, in fact, I’ve even built quite a few. I was satisfied with doing all of the manual work, and ended up going into business for myself as a General Contractor, but I wasn’t smart enough to figure out it would be in my best interest to hire subcontractors, which would’ve allowed me to make even more money. Consequently, my back went out when I was 55, and because I had been under fire in Vietnam, the government gave me a money benefit, that they give to most veterans that had been through the same trauma I had experienced.
Our laws go back to the King of England. They were good laws, and we still follow a lot of them. My first bit of advice is, don’t ever break the law, and always tell
the truth. The second piece of advice that I can give to you, is to always follow the ones you trust, not the ones that can send you down the wrong path.
Lastly, I have to mention the drug epidemic that the United States is currently facing. If we don’t want to destroy our democracy, our cultures need to wise up. Drugs only bring tragedy, something your common sense should tell you. You need the courage and intelligence to say no to drugs!
The Army taught us to fight to the end and to never give up, and I am a great example of this motto. You can go through extreme traumatic situations in life, but in the end, or even during the journey, God can and will help you.
Einstein said, “God doesn’t play dice with the Universe.” To me that means every atom is in its proper place. I won’t bore you with the other six near death expierences that I have had, but believe me, you can expect some of the same things to happen in your life. Furthermore, I want to let you know that, the longer you stay in school, the more options you will have to advance your life’s work. Believe me when I say that, in order to find out the truth, you need to look at half of what you see and listen at half of what you hear.
You have to learn from your elders, so you can teach your children properly. Have any of you ever heard of the revolving door policy? You know, what goes around comes around? Basically, if you hurt someone, you’re going to get back more pain in return, because that’s why God made this world, and if you don’t believe me, then you will learn the hard way.
Take another look from the outside. Violent people are a bane to the world. What I have to say has been said many times before throughout history. Consider the seven deadly sins mentioned in the Bible. I just want to be seen as a friendly, loving, beneficial grandparent to each and every one of you. One of the hardest jobs in the world is for parents to teach their children the many lessons that they need to learn, before they experience them. So be loving and tolerant, and listen to your parents, and remember, you can’t listen if you are too busy talking.
I would be amiss if I didn’t mention your duty as an American citizen. Your first duty living here is not to break any laws, as mentioned before, and your second duty is to vote. We have a situation in our country right now, where half of the people don’t agree with the other half. What are we to do? You must educate yourself and find the truth, and vote for the best person for the job. We don’t want any liars in office, or someone who is very good at distorting the truth. Only you, with your single vote, can make a difference.
Proceed slowly and with caution, in your relationships with other people. Once you leave the path of the straight and narrow, you will become addicted to the chaos. You’ve got to travel all the way back to where you were if you really want to be happy. I want you to pay close attention to what I am saying. This is the way I figured out just about everything regarding my life, like I was the only one that was supposed to be in control of my life, however, I want to warn you all to be cautious with initiative.
Now, I’m going to end this with a happy story. When I was 47 I found my third wife, and she’s been my angel and savior, and haven’t had a fight in 23 years. She had four children, one was born with a very bad disease, and therefore had to go live with someone else, who was better prepared to take care of him, and the other three a boy and two girls, I adopted. They are about 30 and 29 and 28 years old, and I we raised them properly, therefore they didn’t get into a lot of trouble. The first boy, the one who was sick, has just received a life-saving medicine that is causing him to do 100% better.
Well, my father was a Federal Judge in the Superior Court of the District of Columbia, and my mother worked at the Pentagon as the Secretary to General Lemay. Even though they are two of the finest parents anyone could ask for, they neglected to tell me (MOST LIKELY I DIDN’T LISTEN) just how much trouble you could get yourself into. Keep your friends close and your enemies far away.
I was an Officer and a gentleman, and I have a four-year degree from the University of New Hampshire for Philosophy and US History.
Lastly, your most important duties in this life is to you love yourself because you are God’s creation. And your second most important duty is to vote, this is especially important to every last one of you, and if you don’t know what I’m talking about educate yourself!
Well, that concludes my little speech. I hope you all remember what I have said, and I wish each of you a happy and blessed life.
One Last thing to remember, make it your mantra,”You can always be here with Me”.
I love all of you.
Gary Philip Mcintyre