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Willis Kattrell… alas…

ahhhh….alas….

I have been doing nothing but smiling and glowing deep down inside since this past weekend…(it is a girl thang).

It is kind of like going to church and hearing a sermon that really seeps down deep into your soul. And you leave church feeling…feeling good all over…and glowing all through the week whenever you think about it.

I experienced one of those this past weekend. It was at a school reunion…Black Alumni Conference for my college…and since the moment I received an email from a very unexpected person…well, I had been looking forward to seeing him.

The email that was sent to me was out of the clear blue sky…and it said-

“See you tomorrow.”

It could have been written directly from a suspense thriller.

It had me on the edge of my seat. It intrigued me.

It had been some mere 40 years since seeing that wonderful smile and those teeth of life…but I remembered them well. And that face which they lit from day to day.

Midway through the evening the following night upon not seeing him, I whispered to someone…

“Willis said that he was coming. But I guess he must be running late.”

And to my surprise she informed me by poking out her little pinky finger saying-

“That’s Willis right there.”

He had been sitting directly in front of me…and… Well, I had not…well…he-he… Well, he was clean shaven. He looked corporate.

Gone was that big afro that marked his time in American history. He was bald…but when he turned and smiled in our direction. There it was…that smile…those teeth. They…they had not changed.

Upon getting the opportunity to speak with him…I did not fail to tell him of all that I had thought of him while we were in school.

Though he too had failed to recognized me…and that was okay, I still disclosed my undying love, my admiration, my appreciation and my respect for him. And he stood before me so gracious, so humble and so kind just politely thanking me all the while for every kind word.

To think that I would ever grow up to be able to tell Willis all of that…oh, alas….

And Willis, he was… He still walked like Willis. He still talked like Willis…his voice tone was the same. He was still pretty much basically his same size…and he still had that…that wonderful laugh.

Yeah…I may not have recognized him at first…but he was still very much Willis.

And near the end of evening he walked over to me and turned my chin upward towards his…oh, so unexpectedly…and he kissed me.

I have no idea how I reacted…but I have been smiling ever since.

Willis kissed me.

Did I tell you…that Willis kissed me?

Willis Kattrill kissed me.

He kissed me. And now I know how Peppermint Patty must have felt when Charlie Brown…excused me, when ‘Charles’ kissed her.

I can’t believe it.

Oh, alas…

Willis Kattrell kissed me.

And I have been smiling ever since. I have been feeling happy way deep down inside…because that…that…that Willis Kattrell…he-he kissed me.

Are you sure that I told you….that Willis Kattrell kissed me?

Well, he did. And my world shall never be the same…because alas…that…that Willis Kattrell…he kissed me.

Now, nothing will ever be the same…because….well….because Willis kissed me.

And then he introduced me to his wife saying-

“Tell her all the things you told me.”

I groaned saying-

“Awh…Willis, she already knows.”

But just in case she didn’t…I tapped the table a couple of times just to emphasize the point saying-

“Baby, you got the prize…you got the prize.”

She got Willis Kattrell…and my what a prize.

And he loved it. He laughed.

He was standing behind me…and oh me, oh my…

I was suddenly propelled back into the 70’s listening to that laugh. My mind went back to when Willis had a big afro, when on occasions I would see those beautiful teeth appear from up under his wonderful warm smile.

That Willis Kattrell…he was one of the best looking guys of the campus…par none. And he was always a gentleman. And then, of course, he was the guy who took the time to te Afro ach me everything I learned in radio that had to do with basic board operation in the beginning stage of what would become my profession.

It was Willis…and I was so happy to see him.

And now…I am still smiling because… Well, because Willis Kattrell kissed me.

This is for every wallflower, plain Jane and fat girl out there who has stood around wishing she were like all the other girls. Remember this…Willis Kattrell kissed me. I never dreamed it. Well, this should give you all hope…time is the great equalizer, baby. And don’t you ever dare forget it.

I…I love you, Willis Kattrell.