Loving Blair and Kimberly

by Ernie McCray

I was just thinking
about Blair and Kimberly,
two people very dear to me,
thinking how
unbelievable it is
that it’s been
some 50 years
since we met
when I was the principal
at John Muir Alternative School
and they were among a population
of students

ranging from 12th grade

to kindergarten,

in a building with attractive

murals on the wall,

classrooms where free thinking

flowed like a river

feeding a waterfall,

an auditorium

wherein town hall meetings

overflowed with debate

and when it got too lively

a group of natural comedians

called the “bore breakers”

would take to the stage

and we’d laugh the edge away…

I remember Blair’s fascination,

back in those days,

with radio

and he and I, along with other

radio aficionados,

hustled some telecommunication equipment

from KOGO

and they started a radio show

on our campus,

and launched lucrative careers

in the radio industry.

And Kimberly

found ways

with her

self-directed-determined-energy,

to graduate a year early

and then went on

to cut a figure in the business world

with her brilliant mind.

So glad to still

have these friends of mine

in my life,

during these times,

so grateful to have them love me enough

to ask me to marry them,

to honor

a love Kimberly had for Blair

since she was 11 years old,

a love out to recess

for about thirty years

as they lived their separate lives,

and it was one of the many joys

of my life

to join them in matrimony,

to hear vows

of loving unconditionally,

to hear Kimberly

say that she had read:

“When two givers

indulge in a connection,

it’s like magic,

it’s alchemy.

I water you, you water me,

we just drain each other,

we just grow”

and then she says

“Blair, my love,

I look forward to

growing with you.”

And I’m thinking,

at the time,

I’m so blessed to know

and love these two.