Big Ron: The Man, The Myth, The Legend (as seen on myspace)

I remember growing up in Texas with my family. I was blessed to have a mom and dad who took care of me and showed me love in ways that some kids unfortunately never experience. I also had a brother around for the first 8 years or so. Ron Williams was born 10 years and 3 days before me and, when I was growing up, he was about 10 times bigger than me. He taught me about life in the real world. He had some interesting ways of doing that, though. Sometimes he'd share great music with me (Run DMC, Aerosmith, The Fat Boys, Prince, AC/DC, Sugar Hill Gang, Ready for the World, etc), sometimes he'd pick on me and make me defend myself (that's how I learned the phrase "They're just jealous."). Sometimes he'd have to babysit me while my folks were out of town, so he'd make me take responsibility for myself by doing extra chores (mine and his). He went off to college when I was 9 and we started seeing less and less of each other. It was while he was away that I began to realize how much of a hero he was to me. By his example, he showed me how cool it could be to be a Christian and to be unashamed of it. He would "encourage" his friends and teammates (he was a lineman on a football scholarship) to go to church with him. There weren't many people at that church (or at that school) but he always had at least one guest with him. I'd go and visit some weekends and I'd go with him to round up friends to go to worship assembly. He'd bang on their dorm room doors with his humongous hands or kick the door with his size 17 foots and make sure those guys got to the building on time. The epitome of boldness.

He moved to California right after he graduated from college (that's where he was born and lived his first 8 years on Earth, and where our Gram lived). He had to return to Texas only a couple of months after he left so he could attend our mother's funeral. She lost her battle with breast cancer on September 17th, 1989, which was one of the last times Ron was in Texas. After that, I had to go to California if I wanted to see him. Fortunately we'd go every summer to visit and we had some great times together. He showed me the meaning of pure, unadulterated, heart-felt worship. I don't remember ever hearing him sing softly, especially in a church setting. He was the first to start calling me "Rob" on a regular basis, which is why I still go by that name. He also taught me that it was okay to wait a little while to get married. He was 28 when he got married and he started having kids soon afterward. The rest of my brothers (and my dad) got married in their early 20's or late teens. He showed me that people are just people, no matter who or where they are. I remember this one time when I went to visit him and his family. We were driving to his house from the airport and stopped at McDonald's drive-thru to grab a quick bite of dinner. When we pulled up to the window, he spoke to the guy serving us like he spoke to me, his brother. They had never met before but Ron treated him like they were lifelong friends. Ministry in action.

Ron had been my counselor at church camp, my teacher of life skills, and my best friend. He was the one I always called when I needed a boost. He always seemed to know just the right thing to say to make my day go better, or to motivate me to be the man I've been called to be. On March 28th, 2003, God decided that Ron had served his time here on Earth and took him Home. His body left but his spirit remains strong in everyone he came across. You can see him in his daughters, Shinarri and Bethany, his wife, Melissa, his sister, Rahnee, and her daughters, Sumaya, Miriam, Corrine, and even baby Felicity (the ones in the picture with me...that I can't get to load...long story...maybe later). You can see him in his former students/youth groupers. You can see him in his friends and family. You can see him in me, especially when I'm on stage.

I write this on this day because this is the day he was supposed to turn 40. I always envisioned us growing older and our kids playing together while we sat on the front porch and talked about old times. I guess that won't happen in this life but I have the feeling that anything is possible in Heaven.