The Death of Stevie Mitchell

I wouldn't want to sit and have a drink with Stevie Mitchell. I've done it before and it was never much fun. Stevie didn't drink for fun. His drinking was the opposite of fun. It was a hard working lesson in self destuction. If Stevie didn't want to be there, neither did I.

I suppose you could say that he never really recovered from seeing his brother die. His brother was literally hit on the head by a car as he and Stevie painted the traffic lines on the roads. Stevie went to prison shortly after. Maybe that had something to do with it. Maybe not.

Stevie had two other brothers: John and Joe. They were far less volatile. Stevie's not been long out of prison.It was another stretch of a far longer sentence, that of life iteself. Ironically, he was probably safer in prison. That was a life of sorts.

Stevie's salvation was sport. He was a powerhouse, who worked at whatever he did. There wasn't anything like a bounce game when Stevie was playing. Sometimes, his great skill, athleticism and above all his will to win, carried the whole Dalmuir football team. He did this for the Saturday morning team and then for the Dalmuir afternoon team. He also played on Sundays.

To see Stevie up close you would have to play him at pool. Stevie would do anything to win: intimidation, cheating or even just boring you to death. He would hit a white ball around a black ball for hours, just to make sure that the other guy wouldn't get to it before him. And if these things didn't work he'd give in, but he never really gave in. He couldn't. He would rather eat the white ball than lose. Even Gerry Keening was no match for him there.

Stevie's weight ballooned up and down. It went up to about 16 or 17stones when he was drinking non stop and it would come down to about 12 stone when he was jogging his days away. This was his fighting weight. And for Stevie the world was just one big school yard where you had to prove your worth every day.

Nobody knows why Stevie hanged himself. It was his choice. I'm not sure if it was the right one. I hope I never have to find that out for myself. I'm sure he'll be missed, but not by me. God bless him.