Marcelle had two boys, Stacey and Scott and several husbands that wound up causing some serious issues for the boys. I believe that I had spent quite a bit of time with them while they were young and Marcelle had me over for many dinners at her place.
When Stacey was around 12, I taught him some calculus and he took to it so easily and kept asking me for more. Wow, I thought that he was super smart and he later proved this true in spades with his academic and career achievements in software programming. Unfortunately, he has recently split up with his second wife and he does not have any children. For some reason, Stacey has cut me out of his life and doesn’ t really acknowledge our family. I am not sure how I could have upset him as I had always tried to have been a mentor and friend.
Clockwise: Meghann, Scott, Stacey, Nicole
Scott had turned to nasty drugs with a bad crowd. Marcelle had taken him to see a doctor and Scott was diagnosed with clinical depression and that he was self medicating with drugs in order to escape his pain. I tried to get Scott to get his head straight as I took over to my place to stay over and I took him out on hunting trips, to Thunder Mountain and loading ammo to see if I could get him refocused. I even smoked a couple of joints with him once to speak on his own level to see where he was at with a view towards convincing him to focus on his life and where it was going. Marcelle was furious with me when she found this out, but perhaps she forgave me after she realized that it was equivalent to having a beer with a drinking buddy.
Scott
But I was unsuccessful and Scott died of a heroine overdose years later. He tried to get himself straight as well and he enlisted in the Navy and got fit and a good training. Later, he meticulously planned and executed a massive hike that spanned the entire length of the 2,180 mile Appalachian Trail from Georgia to Maine. He then worked out in the Western states to help put out fires. Scott returned to New Jersey though and hooked up with old friends and died soon after. I flew in to New Jersey from Seattle and attended his funeral and it was a sad moment indeed.
BARRY STEVEN EPSTEIN- PhotoAutobiography DRAFT 18 of 156