FADE TO BLACK

I was sitting and thinking how one day all my favorite movie stars, schoolboy crushes and musical talents will be gone. A part of my life is disappearing right before my eyes.

Suddenly, last week two neighborhood, childhood friends died days apart. That's when I noticed that I personally was fading to black.

One particular friend shares 40+ years of events with me and a few others. There are stories that a great writer could turn into hilarious moments for the multitudes. Right now, they are interludes that make 5 grown men laugh enough it could be considered an ab workout. Some day it will be 4, 3 and none.

When Stevie and Chaka and others take their final rest, I'll have no concerts to attend. Bringing it closer to home, when my friends are called to glory, life's encounters will have less meaning.

I am fading to black.

Now that Dex (Dexter Crawford) has gone, the pace of the fading seems to have changed to the gallup of a harness racing horse.

We kicked it like young brothers born into celebrity in our newly grown days. Cincy to Dayton was our normal Wednesday.

The tales of Chicago, Atlanta, Vegas, LA are epic. Some of it can't be shared on this platform but, to think there is one less person to enjoy the memory is evidence of the fade to black.

Chi-Town was the first time we experienced the fine dining of a cook to order personal chef. We were the only party in the tiny establishment. That is how it worked. The proprietor catered to the scheduled audience. January 13th left us with one less person to reflect and smile upon this experience. We also had a couple of semi scary moments in the windy city that are now fertile grounds for comedy.

Our trips to LA are unforgettable. One trip we took our hoop squad and talents to Venice Beach. The stars line up for we gave every team the business. We didn't come off the court until we decided to call it quits. Lenny Pugh was his doing his normal. He always could and probably still can make that orange ball go through the metal rim from anywhere on the court. Of all the games we won, I'm the only one with a dunk in the game but, we'll skip past that. Our dude Dex was killing them that day. His turn around J was so on point, you would have sworn he and Ewing had the same trainer. Actually, I shouldn't have used the word kill. I misspoke. We didn't get tired and quit. Dex was hurting them so bad that some dude named Frank threatened to start cutt'n fools for laughing at him getting torched and cut Dex for being the flamethrower. 🤣😂

One less person on this earth to enjoy this story.

I'm fading to black.

Other LA escapades include "Halle Berry" and a time when Dex got mad at me for, how did he put it? "You're just being greedy now..." 🤣

We never figured out his logic on that story and never will.

We watched the same movies as the rest of the kids from our block. Then and today, kids see the fancy cars and clothes and begin to dream. The Cadillac, the Deuce and a quarter the Rivera with the bubble in the back was the fancy of many friends.

The above was not the case for Dex, myself and our crew. Our dreams game in foreign languages. I'm not even sure how we conjured up these ideas but, the Porsche was our aspiration. Dex put in the work and bingo, he became the first of our three man Porsche club. A bright yellow 911. Pernell followed up with a bright red 944. Otis had the "Italian Racing machine". 🤣 I was on the outside looking in until Pernell upgraded and I purchased his 944.

We had a great young adult life. Thanks Dex for pushing the dream forward.

The stories surrounding the cars have one less person on this planet to smile upon these memories.

I am fading to black.

I never mentioned a trip to some Military town in North Carolina. It wasn't in our regular rotation like the other cities. Our only purpose for going there was to check up on our homie Otis Williams. I think it was Dexter's idea. I recall, we didn't think he was doing well emotionally. Of course we (men) never uttered such words. Emotional health wasn't a part of the male conversation in those days. It might not be even today. We were more apt to say, "he's got it bad." I can't even remember where we were but, I remember the trip to the barbershop and Dex was the highlight there. I remember going to the club and they had an open mic night before the party started. There was a paraplegic singing Minnie Rippington's "Loving You" who was the infamous highlight of the night until Dex stole the show by cursing everyone out.

Man lookie here. When I tell you, this is a moment like no other, you have to believe me. If me Dex, Pernell and Lenny were together right now, it would take us 15 minutes to stop laughing.

There is one less person on this planet to enjoy this story.

I am fading to black.

I'll end it here as Dex ended all our departures over the last few years.

I love you Brother ✊🏾

Fade to Black ✊🏾