Vince West

by VInceWestMusic
(Stockton,CA. USA)

I remember, my one summer school season in the 2nd grade. I was there because I just couldn't concentrate & was held back. My mother & father divorced earlier that year but what could I possibly understand! This particular morning I was playing kickball with classmates &, up to kick again, I noticed (2) 4th graders near the fence with another boy near their height, beyond them. That boy was clinging to the fence!
I abandoned homeplate, ran to them & placed myself between they & the other boy. The eldest in size slapped me in the ear & over the top of my head in anger continuing to jab & kick @ the back of the boy. It was the first I'd heard the letters M R used in a heckling manner! I could feel it hurt, but didn't yet know what they meant by it. I started to fend off the biggest, & though I was crying, I was a bit too busy to worry 'bout that!
When the "yard keep" arrived, she grabbed @ me, seeing I, by then, appeared to be the aggressor. Other observers came to my defence with their confessions & the evidence of spittle across the Impaired boy's back was plenty reason to hall those two off.
After removal of the chaos, I stood next to the boy in an effort to comfort him, gently rubbing his shoulder. Suddenly, he let go of the fence & in looking down @ me with cyclone wire impressions on his face & hands, he spit in my face & ran away. In my shock & embarrassment, I immediately clenched the fence & continued my tears... as if in taking his shadowed place.
How he must have felt in his confusion & isolation, I have known only in glimpses, for many years now. On that day I inherited only a fraction of the humiliation he & those loving &/or dispising him through life, have born. One thing I've understood all these years is, I'd do it again... and again, if necessary... In many ways, most of us have... & continue to.
I've told this story in tribute to the Durangons I know & cleave to, in my heart, every day!
Today I especially thank Ms. Jennifer Marciano with all my heart, for all she's done for others & even those wonderful things not yet accomplished in others lives. Smiles from my heart to yours for~eva'!
From the depths of my soul, I thank Mr. Jack Hayford for the tireless endeavoring he undertakes in service to us all... so very often beyond our sights and therefore, unseen ...
and lastly... but in no way least, I Thank, Mr. Jim (A+) Attebury, (who musta' been born with a plus symbol in his Sir name), along with all of our Durango Expo family, new & old for... "All You Do For Music"! VWM.