Joseph P. Garland

Joseph Percival Garland was born on September 28, 1878 in Waco, Texas which is about 75 miles south of Dallas-Fort Worth. Texas had previously been a slave state, and seventeen years earlier in 1861 Texas had seceded from the United States. That of course didn't work out so well. My grandfather wasn't involved in the civil war, but his father and uncle were. They had both been colonels in the Army of the Confederate States of America.

My grandfather and his wife had many children, and in 1914 (when he was 36 years old) they had their last child. My father Benjamin Hadley Garland was born on November 19, 1914 in Paris, Texas which is about 80 miles northeast of Dallas.

In 1953 when my grandfather was 75 years old he was diagnosed with terminal lung cancer. In private he discussed his medical situation with my Dad. You can be certain that he had felt ill for some time, and that he was well aware he had a major medical problem. After talking with the doctors, no doubt he realized that the cancer would soon spread to his brain, just like it did with George Harrison. He told my father that he didn't want his medical bills to be a burden on the family financially. With his disease being incurable his logic made a great deal of sense. No doubt he did not want to find himself in the horrible situation where his brain gave out before his body did.

Most animals can tolerate an amazing amount of pain. I was diagnosed with leukemia 7 years ago, and the cancer has continued to grow. I am now experiencing what sometimes is called late-stage leukemia. The immune system is compromised, and secondary cancers become far more likely now. It has become rather painful too. But whether you are a dog or a human, one can actually tolerate a surprising amount of pain and continue to function pretty normally.

My grandfather was a strong man. He decided to put a bullet in his head rather than destroy the family financially and also risk the possibility of the cancer spreading to his brain and robbing him of the possibility of self determination. I am convinced that he did not kill himself out of any kind of weakness or fear of pain. He made a logical and ethical choice that only a very strong person could make: Do what he needed to do to protect the family; and Do it before the cancer spread to his brain.

In 1953 he put a .32 caliber semi automatic to his head and pulled the trigger. This was a gun they had bought during WWII from a medic. I remember the day my grandfather died very well, complete with vivid color memories. I was three years old at the time.

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