—NEVER FORGET ME,

     AND EVERYTHING I’VE DONE 

NEVER FORGET ME, 

     LIKE I’M YOUR FAVORITE SONG

 

 

R.I.P James “Fred” Mayhew, 9/19/21

 

 

Yo, Fred!

 

I miss you. I miss your smile and those boyish, Nick Nolte (circa “North Dallas Forty”) good looks. 

 

I’ve thought of you quite a few times in the last couple of months and meant to write, but then, stupid time came and went, and well, as so often is the case, it ended up that I was the stupid one, not time. 

 

So, I tried, but I can't recall a single day I’ve ever seen you angry, not even when Doc Sot stiffed us out of 200 bones in VIVA at The Golden Steer. Not when those “hags” walked in on you “doing your business.” Not when said “hags” evidentially stole your watch. In my mind, you're tied with Lersey as “The Happiest Guy I Know.” (But then, this is coming from the person your wife deemed as "The Most Wasted Guy I've Ever Seen." So, yeah, take it for what it's worth.)

 

It's been a thrill and honor to know you. Heck, it was even nice having your kid (and friends) stay at my place in Blahview that time, and have all the sirens (EMT’s and cops aplenty) twirling in the driveway at 2am. (Got to keep those "Track Mansion Yuppies” on their toes, right?)

 

I've also really appreciated your random, intermittent missives via email over the years. They always came out of the blue, and they always made me chuckle and smile, sometimes to the point I’d spit out my beverage all over the keyboard.

 

What I’m trying to say is you are One of the good ones—One of the What-you-see-is-What-you-get ones: authentic, unique and absolutely golden, carrying so much straight-up, jacked-up joy that you’re impossible not to love.

 

I love you, Fred. I do.

 

You used to end your notes to me with, "Brothers for Life." To me, it always felt as if you really meant it, like meant it all the way from the bottom of your toes. So, that's what you and I will always be. (Me, and hundreds of others.) “Brothers for Life.” I hope you know that.

 

I also hope Tommy gets to read this to you. I’m sending you all the love I have, and, either way, I know you’ll be able to feel it, this exclusive, one-of-a-kind place you hold in my heart.

 

Yours Truly,

 

“Lenny the K”

 “Kuntzie” 

“2 Bone Lenny”