Noah had so much going right for him at a young age....tough, strong, funny, agile...he got bested by a horizontal ladder challenge at a fair as a teenager so he went home and made one and learned to beat it. He took exception once to a soldier that was dumb enough to waltz in the parking lot of the Dairy Queen in Adel, GA, where Noah was hanging out. Noah said they ended up in a fight. Noah usually won fights but not this time. He found out later the soldier was a Green Beret so I guess it was OK to get whipped by a bonafide badass (this was late 60's, early 70's).
But being young, braggadocious, and full of life he took some wrong turns. Fast driving, drinking, things teenagers often do. But he could not handle the demons. He had alcohol problems for years, then a serious hand injury (let hand...almost amputated by a radial arm saw making aluminum storm windows. They re-attached but he needed a real hand specialist. We told him to come to Atlanta where we had a good surgeon lined up for him. But, the local orthopod assured them he could handle it. He could not...poor blood supply, nerve issues, etc. He never got good function again, hand withered, he wore a single black glove so folks didn't have to see how bad it was. Long story short, after that he also had medication issues for pain to complicate things. That led to marriage problems and divorce. At some point he had an issue with an elbow problem. It all came to be too much...a self-inflicted .45 to the heart was his final shot. Pretty sad stuff.
I work to keep alive the younger Noah memories...and still miss him. I am still in touch with Ike, Noah's younger brother that was the target of the gator in the boat. Ike laughs just like Noah. He is a S. GA pastor, as good a fellow as you could hope for. We have fun re-living Noah stories when we get together.