Monday, October 18, 2021
To say Kiki was larger than life is a cliche but there are times when cliches prove the point. When I first met him at 15 we matched eye levels but he had some 40 lbs. on me and still growing. That physical presence was never used in a mean or bullying way. Instead he was the most joyful person I knew, always ready to turn something into laughter, often at his own expense. Before they redistricted his house we went to high school, joined the football team and hung out with friends together. Despite his enrollment at the rival school, we were in Sea Scouts together, hung out at the beach, went to junior college for the same classes, got together with friends to watch Monday Night Football at rotating houses, played cards in my back room under an adolescent cloud of cigar smoke, and did our own Street Corner Symphony Do-Wop versions of his beloved Beach Boy songs.
Kiki loved laughter and the joy it brought. There was never a moment with him that didn't bring that aspect of his personality out. Even the serious moments with weighty issues ended somehow with a smile. Although I saw him a few more times when he came back on visits, I really said goodbye when he and Midge moved to Arizona driving 1700 miles in a Volvo stuffed with belongings they hadn't shipped ahead, with a dog and 2 frozen Dues' pizzas. They made it to Tucson and established a wonderful life for themselves but the Southwestern sun filled the car windows and the pizzas never made it.
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