My father lives on in my son

17 years ago today Harry Solomon Stonehill moved on from his body, tired of fighting.

Esteban Harry Stonehill was born 4 years ago and even when he was a baby people would tell me all the time they could see a resemblance. Personally I struggle to see this but what I do see in Esteban are moments of behaviour and mannerisms which remind me of him and like a bright sunbeam flashing in my eyes I am instantly warmed by these moments.

My father was lucky to make it to the age of 84. If he hadn't had his heart attack in an airport (where the paramedics were able to reach him quickly) he would have checked out 15 years earlier. Conscious of this, I made the most of those last 15 years as best I could.

For those of you who haven't already heard his story:

He built an empire in the Philippines in the 1950s after being posted there as a GI in the 2nd WW. He created 17 corporations with the intention of re-building a broken country and ultimately became one of the most powerful men there. But as we all know with great power comes great responsibility and as the first person to grow tobacco in the Philippines he challenged the existing status quo of US tobacco exports and found himself in a position where he was being asked by the US government to help them out with certain political favours. He refused and in doing so he sealed his fate.

I am grateful they didn't just assassinate him as is often the way in these situations. Instead the US were able to manipulate his deportation and confiscation of assets worldwide. They ostracised him and made sure he was never able to return to the Philippines, tying him up in court cases which lasted almost forty years, ultimately costing him every penny he had.

The following words are taken from the preface of his unpublished autobiography:

"Ever since my parents brain washed me into believing America was a magnificent nation, completely altruistic and sincerely devoted to helping under privileged peoples, even to its own detriment, I had believed it with all my heart until I saw what they could do to one of its citizens if that person did not bend to its powerful bureaucracy or political dictates.

In relating the sincerity of myself towards the self improvement of this impoverished, under developed Philippines and then finding I was fighting a group in Washington dedicated only to American self interests shocked me and destroyed my naive desires.

This is a story about the good guys and the bad guys. Generally the good guys win the battles against the evils of the world and the bad guys end up paying for the consequences of their actions in many different ways.

I am of the opinion a great injustice has been done and I believe in this instance, the good guys have committed continuous criminal acts in collaboration with the U.S. Federal Judiciary, the U.S. State Department, FBI, CIA and Department of Justice. And in doing so have reversed their roles with the bad guys."

If you feel like reading more about him you can find an article here, written on the 100th anniversary of his birth.

When Esteban saw the image at the top of this post he asked who it was next to him.

I explained and his next question was "where is he?"

I told him he was dead and Esteban looked at me for a moment contemplating my answer before exclaiming bluntly, "No Sam, people never die".

How right he is.

Eating vegan cake on his first birthday in Bali, enhancing those higher level chakras with a purple bindi.

Love & Light everyone 🙏🏻

Who is @samstonehill?

He was a London based filmmaker until he sold everything and set out on a barefoot journey around the world, currently based in the south of France.

He is travelling with his partner & two children and with no bank account he has been living on STEEM & crypto for over a year.

All content created for this account is 100% original (unless otherwise stated), produced by @samstonehill who invites you to use & share freely as you wish.

Sam is the creator of:

The Aspiring Steemit Whales & Dolphins group on Facebook which seeks to help newcomers make the transition from Facebook to Steemit, providing them with detailed notes and personal assistance with their posts... resteeming them when he can.

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All non original photo sources can be found by clicking on the image