Troy Maxson Eulogy

Hello, beloved friends and family of Troy Maxson,

My name is Robert Taylors. And I knew Troy for a long time. It’s been almost twenty years since I met him. You see, he and I go way, way back. When I first opened my bar, it was just the two of us on most days. He would come in for a drink, watch the ball game, and tell me about his day. Some days he would have these great stories to tell me from work, and some days I’d have to pour him a few extra shots. Being a father and a husband was not easy. We kept this tradition alive ‘till the night before he passed. Troy…was family to me.

He was many things: a garbage collector, a truck driver, a friend, a brother, a husband, a father. Above all, he was a fighter. No one ever handed Troy Maxson a single thing. He worked for everything he had, and he worked hard. Pushing past 50, he was still collecting garbage to provide for his family. It was no easy job, and he don’t make much, but every Monday, “he goes out. Makes his way. Finds his strength to carry him through to the next Friday.” He did the best job he could. Gave his family all he had to give, “his sweat and his blood”, and even the damn “lint from his pockets.” He believed it was his duty, and he worked relentlessly to fulfill it.

Man, I really admired him. Troy had guts. He would always go on and on, even in front of his boss, about how only the white folk got to drive the trucks. I mean that’s just the way it was, and we all figured he was talking nonsense. Brownie thought he was gonna get the whole lot down there fired. And yet, one day this fool came in, big grin on his face, and he said “I’m driving tomorrow.” He could have easily lost himself his only job, his only pay—I mean, come on! He spoke up against the rules set in place by those white fellows at the Commissioner’s! But Troy Maxson was just never one to stand down. When I asked him if ever got scared, he would say “I ain’t worried about them firing me. They gonna fire me cause I asked a question?”

It wasn’t all clear skies though, he wasn’t no perfect guy. Sometimes… he got himself into real trouble. There was this girl at the bar, Alberta, lovely gal, that Troy grew very fond of. He told me, when he was her, he could get away from “the pressures and the problems…be a different man.” Despite that, it ate him up inside; he knew it what he was doing was wrong Eventually, he came around like the honest Troy I knew, and owned up to Rose. It was nothin’ pretty, but he did the right thing.

Through it all, I can still say that Troy Maxson really was a good man, with a good heart. Although, he was a little strange. Somehow, Troy was never was scared of death. “Death ain’t nothing. I done seen him.” he said. “Death ain’t nothing but a fastball on the outside corner.” I mean, what in the damn hell was he talkin’ about?

Funny thing though, I believed him. I always knew he had it covered. Not a chance he was gonna drop dead until he wanted to, until he was finished with his life. Now, I do think he succeeded in that, but he left himself misunderstood for his family.

Rose, I don’t blame you for not forgiving him. But he did love you. I don’t know how many times he sat there drunk, just mumbling how “you the only decent thing that ever happened to him.” Through it all, he never lost sight of you. I mean God, from the first day he saw you, he knew. He came in the bar, told me he said “Baby, I don’t wanna marry, I just wanna be your