Many of you, my friends, know another friend of ours. He does not have Myspace, or a fancy computer. He doesn't have many worldly possessions at all, yet he always seems to be the first to help, the first to smile, and the first to give you whatever he has. This friend of ours is in need. He is in the hospital, and facing a very hard road ahead. Cards will be passed around among his friends, and I am sure that many people will send flowers, or other symbols of their love and good wishes. I am calling for you as his friends to do more though, and I sincerely believe that among the many of you who love this man, what I ask will not be difficult. In fact many of you, being the thoughtful people that you are, have probably already done this. If you believe in prayer I ask that you pray for him. I, personally, do not. Which is why I ask all of you, believers and non-believers alike, to do something more. Give something of yourself. I write. I usually write about myself in a very introspective and self-centered manner. Now I write for him. This I write for Kenny.
After hearing of Kenny's plight, I asked myself what I could do to help. Only family is allowed to visit him in the hospital, and being swarmed with hundreds of friends and well wishers, while a nice gesture, would only serve to tire him and possibly worsen his condition. Certainly we all want to let him now how much we love him, but what if we do something more than sign cards, cry, and pray? What if we do for others what Kenny has always done for us? Do something silly to make someone smile. Tell your friends how much you love them, or, at the very least, wish them well. Lend a hand. Listen. Be overly considerate. Say "Hi!" to a total stranger, smile and wave. There are so many good things that Kenny does for all of us on a daily basis that I can not recount them all. What I am asking you for, is to do something that you know Kenny would do for you, and in so doing, generate some good karma in his name.
I'll share just a couple short tales of my times with Kenny, in the hopes that they will make you smile, and maybe give you ideas.
When I first moved to Saint Joe I had been down to the bar a couple of times but had never really met Kenny. One slow fall night the sewage system backed up and we all had to vacate the premises. The few patrons and most of the bar staff at the time, went down to the boathouse, to continue drinking and joking and doing whatever people do at a bar, and now that we had a story to break the ice it was a lot easier for me to get to know the people I was with, Kenny included. When last call came and I went out to my car, there was a torrential downpour. As I was pulling out of the parking lot I saw Kenny and his sister Lisa beginning the walk home. Rolling down the window I shouted for them to get in. I knew they couldn't live too far away, and nobody needs to walk home in rain like that. Kenny was actually surprised that someone would give him a ride. That's the way Kenny is, never wanting or asking, only giving. They only lived about 5 blocks away, but the difference between riding five blocks in a car, and walking five blocks in the rain is quite obvious. For several weeks after that, whenever I went down to Czar's, Kenny would thank me for the ride home. Mind you, Kenny's house was only a couple blocks away and actually on the way to my house, so giving him a ride had literally cost me nothing. Yet, he was still so grateful. That's just the way Kenny is, grateful for everything and anything.
As I got to know Kenny better, I noticed what many of you know. He is an entertainer. He is an entertainer in the truest form, in that he entertains not for his own popularity, but merely for the amusement of his friends. Anyone who has ever seen Kenny dance or rock out on his air guitar knows that he is not concerned with looking cool. All he wants is to get his friends laughing, loosened up, and having a good time. That's just the way Kenny is, doing anything to make the rest of us feel good.
Navigating that dark bar can be hazardous on any given night. Kenny, being legally blind already, has become accustomed to excusing himself, and apologizing while doing his bar-backing duties. On certain nights, when the bar was dead and only a handful of regulars were gathered by the pool table, we would occasionally hear Kenny bump into an empty stool and immediately say "Excuse me sir!", or "I'm so sorry about that!". We would all laugh, and then explain to Kenny that the stools were empty, that there were only a dozen people in the entire bar. Kenny would laugh and say "Really?". That's just the way Kenny is, always giving the courtesy to others, and always able to laugh at his own mistakes.
So again I ask you to take the time to think of what Kenny has done for you, and do that for someone else. I honestly believe that if there were more Kenny's in the world, we would all be better off. Generate some good karma for our good friend. Pass it on. Pay it forward. Do what you can. Just think of how Kenny would smile if, when receiving all of his get well cards and flowers, he was told that all of his friends were out doing good deeds in his name, in the hopes of getting good energy to come back to him and help him heal. Of course, knowing Kenny, he wouldn't believe it, he wouldn't know what to say. That's just the way Kenny is, humble and just too damn nice.
Thank you… and I love you all.
Post Script: Kenny, if this paper gets to you, I want you to know that, as your friend, I love you in the most selfish way. Over the few years I have known you, you have made me laugh time and again, you have always greeted me warmly with a smile, you have always made me feel at home. I doubt I can ever return the kindness you have shown me ever since we met, but I will try. I want you to know that I love you as a brother, and that I am only one of many, many people who love you dearly and want to see you well again.
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