No one ever wants to cast a pall upon
themselves. Don't you all know that is the God's honest truth... It is ALWAYS someone else's fault and NEVER squarly
your own. I am no different. I am innocent. Seriously, I know that I am not 100% innocent but maybe just
a little guilty and for that I apologize.
That said... The truth is that something happened between Rono and Me and I have been
unhappy with him ever since. Maybe it was something that happened at UJH (University Junior High) or at Reagan or when
I was working at SMU and then maybe it was just about Bobbie Sparks...
The truth is that I became upset with Rono while Boo and I are still as thick as
thieves in the best friend for life department. What was it? Officially I don't really know but then again, since I
am well known for having a great memory, maybe I don't want to say and all that other is just a smoke screen to throw
people off. Maybe.
It was well over 20 years ago whatever it was and even though I am still perturbed over
the insult I am VERY happy to see him succeed and do good. Truly happy.
It gives me great pride that my ex-best friend has risen to help the man at the top
(Obama) whom I and my family supported. I mean GREAT PRIDE even though Rono and I hardly ever speak anymore.
To his credit he DID email me condolences when my dad passed. The last time I saw Rono was
at his brother Lee's funeral.
Lee (read this) was a very good friend of mine moreso like a play-brother. I miss seeing Jr. (I called him that) with that
multi-colored red, yellow, black and green knit hat he used to wear and seeing him putt around in his blue Chevrolet S10.
There wasn't hardly a week that went by that I didn't stop by his house on Chestnut to catch up and chew the fat. He
knew that if he needed anything and I had it, it was his for the asking. Of course that's the way
I am with all my friends and if you are one it is no big secret.
Looking at Rono's picture above reminds me that he is the spitting image of his daddy.
Rono's parents are the late Lee Andrew Kirk Sr and Willie Mae Kirk. I felt welcome every
time I visited back then and still do for that matter, albeit not as often as I would like. I am just too busy to
visit people I know from childhood like I did when I was younger. Still I can tell you the floor plan of that house on
Maple Ave. from memory, I know it so well.
We might disagree and say things in heat but... you better read the fine print and caveat. If
you mess with any one of my friends and expect me not to jump in to help them even if I am upset with them... you are stupid.
Rono has 2 sisters and Connie in particular is close to me. Vicky (Saundra as she likes
to NOW be called) was too old for me to have known and ran around with my oldest sister Joan (who is also too old for me to
have known) LOL.
Connie is a jazz and blues singer and she's got a great voice, as did Lee. I think they
got it from their mama. I could write a novel on my friends but I know how PRIVATE some are so I will just say that I
love all my friends dearly.
Even the ones I am perturbed about even if I forgot why.
BOO KING
Boo is the baby of his family and he has a sister named Marjohn (after both her parents Dr.
John Q.T. King Sr. and the late Marcet Hines King), and 2 brothers Dr. John Q.T. King Jr. (Dee) and Dr. Clinton King.
My brother James, sisters Joan, Janet, Pat and me were always friends with all of them and I suppose that if BLAME has
to be assessed it would be placed amongst all of our parents because they were friends and it all started at what
is now Huston-Tillotson University.
Boo works in the family business King-Tears Mortuary that was run by his grandmother and dad
when I was growing up. His grandmother lived in the house next door and I can still visualize her there when I would go visit.
For that matter I can still see his mother too. I was always welcome in their homes. That is a feeling no argument
can extricate or remove... even if Boo and I never have had even one.
Now-a-days I give Boo and his wife Janice season tickets to watch the Toros play at the convention
center... That's what family does (share) and even in the odd cases when they don't... I do..
Ron Means
You can read all my stories and all my different sites and get the gist of Ronald "Ron" or
"Ronnie" Means. As a child they called me Ronnie. When I got older I went to Ron but my family still calls me Ronnie
and I don't mind. My mother works at the cab office and throws "Ronnie" around whenever she likes. She named me.
She has license.
The thing is I mind when it is someone who doesn't know me either from childhood or THAT
well. I view it as a lack of respect to call someone a name that they do not have permission or experience from
that period of time to use. All my old friends and family can... new people cannot and I do not have a problem chastizing
them IF they try me.
For instance what if my nickname were Doodlebug? It isn't and never was but what if it
had been? Would it be OK for a stranger to call me that even if they heard my mother use it affectionately?
Heck no.
Well that's why I differentiate who can call me Ron or Ronnie. Maybe it doesn't matter.
Maybe it does.
