Who am I, and perhaps more to the point, who is C.G. Ayling?<\/p>\n
Since people are generally inquisitive, here is a little information about me.<\/p>\n
First, and possibly most important to some, C.G. Ayling is the pseudonym of a real person.\u00a0 Charles Gilbert Ayling was a real man, and I \u2013 the person using his name as though it were my own \u2013 am also a real person.\u00a0 Though I happen to be male, I hesitate to deem myself a \u201creal man\u201d since that is a topic deserving of its own post\u2026<\/p>\n
Why am I writing under a pseudonym, you ask?\u00a0 For a number of personal reasons, a few of which I\u2019ll detail here as they might give you an insight into what makes me tick.<\/p>\n
C.G. Ayling was my Godfather, and one of the most important people in my life for many years.\u00a0 My father passed away when I was very young, my Godfather took the place of father figure and perhaps as importantly, that of a true friend.<\/p>\n
Uncle Charles, as I called him from the day I first met him till the last time we communicated over twenty-two years ago, was a truly honorable and selfless man.\u00a0 He never married, and thus was denied progeny of his own.\u00a0 His branch of the Ayling line ended with his death.\u00a0 There are no children who bear his name, and few surviving people who will remember him now.\u00a0 Frankly, he deserves far more than that.\u00a0 This is my main motivation for taking his name (believe me it is not in vain, but with intent).\u00a0 Even if my work is never a success it is now digitized and has been done so with his name affixed as its author.\u00a0 In a way that grants him immortality in another way than my thoughts.<\/p>\n
My Godfather passed away in 1990 after losing the fight to tobacco.\u00a0 Tragically, I never had a chance to say goodbye – he was living in the UK, I was a continent away.\u00a0 He never told me he had throat cancer, and though I know he kept that information to himself in order to save me anguish, it took me many years to forgive him for denying me the chance to bid him farewell.\u00a0 To be denied, by kindness.<\/p>\n
I miss him terribly, and always will.<\/p>\n
To any of you who think you\u2019re protecting your loved ones by keeping dire knowledge from them, I beg you – reconsider.\u00a0 If you die today, will they be content?\u00a0 Or will they be overcome with guilt, knowing they could have said goodbye \u2013 if only they had known?\u00a0 When you die, you\u2019re done \u2013 they, however, are left to go on.\u00a0 Don\u2019t make them walk that lonely path filled with regret.<\/p>\n