Tuesday, August 25, 2009

"Rocky" - a friendship of a lifetime


There are people that come into your life that you can’t explain why. You don’t have anything in common with that person. It is often strange as to why friendships are made.

I had a friend like that once. His name was Robert Hughes Jr. He was known as “Rocky.”

He and I connected just after we both graduated from Southside High School in my hometown, Muncie, Indiana. I was in the 1972 graduating class; he was in the ’73 class. We were a year apart and I just knew of Rocky during our school days.

The name fit Rocky. He was unorthodox, different, likeable, loud (the life of the party) and extremely popular. In contrast, I was laid back, quiet and unassuming. There’s the odd couple. A friendship?

We did things together such as socialized, although I wasn’t big at that, but I had my moments. But, again, he was the life of the party. People loved him.

I remember he had a Chevy Monte Carlo. Rocky drove the you-know-what out of that car. He was wild. We had our arguments, too. Rocky would do whatever that would make me so angry that wanted to throw him off the planet. But at the end of the day, he would be over my house, sitting at the table as my mother served up one of her meals, probably some good old fried chicken.

Another time I remember my grandmother “Granny” got sick. She had to go to the hospital. Rocky and I went to visit her. Granny was dying. I begin to cry as she lay in the hospital bed. I looked over at Rocky…and he was crying, too. That was 1975, the year Granny died.

About this same time, Rocky’s health began to fail. He had Lupus, a blood disorder that is often fatal. He lost weight, his hair started coming out. His skin peeled off. Through it all, he was still Rocky, - very personable. But he was hurting, from the illness and the idea of being sick. There were days he didn’t have the energy to do anything. We would be in my apartment and just sit, listening to record albums.

We shared. He shared his pain; I shared mine.

My best friend Rocky died in 1976 at age 21.

3 comments:

  1. Walter. This is Michael. I remember that day when you came to my house and told me that Rocky had died. It was like I lost a piece of me also. U are so right about him he lived his life and was a true friend. I remember that besides family he was the only one that had a key to our house, which was 2 doors down. lol My Dad would often say that he had 3 sons. Ron Michael and Rocky. I seen his Sister Kay Kay the other day at Church, she is still the same. We all are better men because of Rocky. He showed all of us how to be a true friend. God placed him here for only a short time. But he impacted so many lifes. Thanks for sharing your relationship with him. He was like another big brother to me,1yr older then me but took care of me when I was in school. I have to stop now starting to cry just remembering the times we had together.

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  2. My very dear friend,

    Thank you for telling the story of how much my father ment to you.
    It is it not a wonderous thing of how God can put people in your path? It is my deepest hope that I get to know the person that my father saw fit to call his friend...it would be one of the greatest honours of my life.

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  3. Walter, Great story you told about Rocky. He was a true friend to you, me and the Soul Sonic club members. I will be posting something on FB, about the good times we had in the club from 1968-72. I too have ran into Kay Kay in Muncie and Anderson, I would love to see Rocky son, he was a small kid when I seen him last.
    Robert Thompson

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