Keep Smiling, Keep Shining

I was never very musical growing up, couldn’t get the beat, more likely to carry a piano than carry a tune, not much of a dancer, but after I became deaf, I realized that one of the things that I missed the most was music.

Last week, I read an article on the internet about some famous singers.  One of the entertainers listed was Dionne Warwick.  Gosh, that name was so familiar, but the music to accompany that name was lost somewhere in my last 50 years of clean living… 

Google reminded me that Dionne and Friends recorded “That’s What Friends are For” in 1985 as a fundraiser for the AIDS crisis.  I spun the vinyl on my mental jukebox and did relatively well on the chorus but found myself humming through the body of the song.  So back to Google but this time I included the word ‘lyrics’…

Keep smiling, keep shining

Knowing you can count on me, for sure

That’s what friends are for

Not having a lot of audio-sensory stimulation, let’s just say that the lyrics to
“That’s What Friends are For” played semi-non-stop beginning that moment for the next couple of days on my mental jukebox.

And then, I received this message from Kathy: Please join us for a going away party as we prepare to make a move to Odessa, TX…

Don’t get me wrong. I knew this was coming. But those of you old enough to remember when Dionne and Friends recorded that song can likely relate to that sinking feeling we get when we know that a page is turning.

Looking back over 47 years of friendship, I remembered a pretty girl with a smile that shined so bright that it lit up the classrooms at Paschal, remembered a young woman at those first reunions that selflessly researched lost classmates so that we could include everyone; remembered a Mom that took time away from her family to help organize a twenty and a twenty-five-year reunion; and remembered a loving Grandmother who found time to volunteer at the thirty- and forty-year reunion.

My heart is full of memories of reunions but more accurately, reunion committee meetings.  When I returned to my first meeting after becoming deaf, I was welcomed back by the group, but it was Kathy who made a place at the table next to her; it was Kathy who turned to face me completely and spoke s-l-o-w-l-y to be sure that I could read her lips, and it was the love of God shining through the face of my high school classmate that made me feel welcome again. 

Looking back, Kathy never shied away from a committee, never hid from an assignment, unfailingly reminded all of us that each person was worthy of our attention, and reflected God’s love in every way.

Education did not stop when I walked out the doors of Paschal High School.  I am blessed to have a friend like Kathy Gilmore Davis, who has taught me more since graduation than I ever learned in the classroom. And that is why after five years of silence, I can’t get Dionne off my mental jukebox…

Oh and then for the times when we’re apart

Well, then close your eyes and know

The words are coming from my heart

And then if you can remember

Keep smiling, keep shining

Knowing you can count on me, for sure

That’s what friends are for

For good times and bad times

I’ll be on your side forever more

That’s what friends are for

Here’s to my friend Kathy Davis, who can pull up stakes and move to Odessa, but she can’t hide from my love, because, through good times, and bad times, I’ll be on your side forever more, because that’s what friends are for…

I love you, Kathy!

Thanks for listening!

Your friend,
KBM

Kevin Medlin
kevin@mysilentpew.com