| Subject: |
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Anthony Howard |
| Name: |
|
LM Ross |
| Date Posted: |
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Aug 7, 07 - 1:16 PM |
| Email: |
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lin.jazzbro1@gmail.com |
| Church Home: |
|
St Frances AME |
| City: |
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Port Chester, NY |
| Message: |
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On the very first day we’d encountered each other, Anthony called me “Kindred.” Kindred as in: His Friend, his Fam, his Brotha. Strange, but we’d never laid our eyes on each other. But it didn’t matter to us. We’d connected.
Overused word, ‘connected.’ What does it really mean?
Well, for me, it means there are certain people, very Rare and Special people who enter our lives and suddenly give it new Hope, new Light, new Color.
These people, they GET us on a deeper, more profound level. Maybe they’ve had similar experiences, triumphs, tragedies, heartbreaks, and joys in their lives.
All I know is, you can speak in shorthand to them, and without much explanation needed, they’ll somehow UNDERSTAND you.
Ain’t Understanding Mellow?
He called me “Kindred.”
And for a few short months, it was as if we’d known each other all our lives.
Being a Director, a Writer, a Brotha of The Pen, an entrepreneur, he knew instinctively how to get things done.
He’d read my book and became so enamored by its content that he volunteered to help me in my quest to spread the word.
‘Ummm... Volunteer?’ I asked. This was a strange word... Volunteer... in a land of greed and agendas and what-have-you-done-for-me-lately intents?
But he meant it. He actually, actually MEANT it. And he did this Beautiful Thing for me, for free. And, by doing so, he showed me the shape of his spirit, and the size and contour of his heart.
To me, a man of his Word is a Man of God.
He then spoke of wanting to turn “Manhood The Longest Moan” into a stage play...and I thought: Wow! So, you really do dream in color, like me!
In the meantime, he had his own shows to mount, his own plays to write, his own ambitions, his own dreams to make come true.
Just last mouth, he mounted a long-planned revue in his native city. The classic rapper-turned-minister Curtis Blow appeared. It was a huge success. I was so pleased when he reported this news to me. I could sense this giddy excitement in his personal triumph.
I always love it when friends make their plans, schemes and dreams into these real things; when they morph ideas into these Beautiful Realities.
He... was a Beautiful Reality to me.
I’d spoken to him recently. He told me of these new shows he was planning, these new goals he’d had in mind.
However, “Unequally Yoked in 3 Weeks,” a stage play which he directed, will be his swan song contribution to the world of Art.
This is breaking my heart!
He was 38 years old.
He called me ‘Kindred.’ He understood and believed in me. I understood and I dreamed with him. And we could speak and laugh and nod and agree, and simply GET each other.
And now, today... he’s gone.
Just... gone.
With tears raining from my eyes, I am trying, TRYING so desperately to process this.
My God!
Anthony... were you a Angel? Once, I think I told you I believed you were my Angel. And you laughed at me. Remember?
Angel/Anthony/Whoever you be, you truly were a Beautiful Reality to me.
We’d never even met, but trust me when I say, I will truly MISS you... forever.
Thank you so much for being so **** REAL.
Anthony, Friend, Brotha, Fam: All the stars in Heaven will shine just a little brighter tonight. And just maybe a certain Angel has earned his rightful wings.
Rest in Peace, Antster.
One.
“Kindred” |
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