i have a friend named billy. i’ve known him for maybe 10 or 15 years. i am not the only one that knows him. lots of the people that know me in real life and that read this blog know him too. he came by proxy of my former boyfriend and his pack of man friends.
billy has resurfaced into my life, or perhaps me in to his. the first encounter was a little over a year ago (while my dad was still alive). billy was bone thin and pale, but still flashing that bright smile that is his alone. he’d told me that he been through rectal cancer and just finished his treatment. he added that he’d had all the radiation treatment a body would allow. his very own lifetime supply of radiation. and he was jovial, and made me laugh.
the next time i ran into him he was back to the picture of health. billy is an attractive man. he is funny, he is talented, and his linguistic skills never fail to make me want to roll on the floor with laughter. did i mention he is a magician? yep. and that was at one time an ac-TOR, and also a photographer?
for the past few months, i’ve been seeing billy on a regular basis (yes, my husband knows about it. hee. not seeing him like that.)
and, i’m glad his personality is back into my circle. dude WILL make you pee your pants with some of the funniest banter i’ve ever heard.
something he recently said i had to write down. i carry two notebooks in my purse so i can retain certain things. so that persons, or people can be forever remembered by me. not that i claim to be of any more importance than anyone else (i don’t), or that the characters that enter my life are either (they rock). i do like to acknowledge the other human beings that occupy my space, my life, or those that inspire me in some way through a written word or gesture.
the sentence that billy said recently as he was setting up a *point* about his background, or youth. with a straight and kind face, he said “i received some bad information as a child growing up”.
i busted out in my loud laughter b/c of the straight face he held and the sheer irony that it was as simple as receiving bad information. are you getting it? golly i sure hope so.
the next day, i was rifling through my “pre-wooden” box stuff and found a photo that billy had taken of me and a former partner i had. he later gave it to us as a christmas gift that year. we’d had a party at the house and billy took a photo in black in white. it took me back to that day, those people, that fun, and the people that were there. some are dead. maybe one, no two. good times.
people are what inspire me. billy if you are reading i want you to know that you are one of those folks that inspires me by your simple presence in the world. i hope you remember how talented you are in so many endeavors and that there are those of us out here that appreciates you.
Posted by leah 
