Showing up for my friends

I will go with you to show you I support your cause but,

I want nothing to do with this roast. That is how all this got started.

So you are thinking maybe I am not one for a party. Not true.

I love parties and I love to talk. What I don't like is making fun of people or offending others. This was a roast for a man who had been my mentor for years. I really didn't want to watch others make fun of him. He was a good man who supported helping others above everything else in life. So how could a gathering of friends get together and make fun of him. Mr. Zee as we all called him was raising money for a new bunch of homeless kids he had taken in who had gotten into trade schools after passing there GEDs early.

Mr. Zee knew the trick or two about giving people hope. If you were a teenager who hated school hated people controlling your life he knew what to do. When he found kids that could lead he would have them a following. Once they found it was easier in a group to get things done there natural abilities came out. He would put them in charge and make them there own family. Mr. Zee always thought outside the box. No matter your age he treated you with respect and value anything you could bring to the table worthwhile. If you didn't work in one group he would find you another. I too had been a trouble youth with parents who should have never been allowed to raise kids. Mr. Zee found me at age 12 living in a old blacksmith shop. He found me work at a gas station and the owner allowed me to sleep in the storage room as long as I would attend school. I passed my GED at 15 and got my own apartment with a fake ID. I had a job as a waiter at Steak and Ale and pass my GED during the summer. It was not easy but, Mr. Zee never gave up on me no matter what the set back. This was before he started the group thing for different kids. I join the Army at 18 and got a education in civil engineering during the four years I was in, I foster kids to this day thanks to him. Mostly those who are mentally handicapped.

So how do you go about making fun of the person who single handedly got you to adulthood. Here is how it went.

The hotel conference room was filled with people I had met over the years of working with Mr. Zee. I was setting to his left and Most everyone at our table were around my age. The first speaker was a Cajun who told the story of Mr. Zee and him using a sane to catch mud minnows to fish with. When all of a sudden a large flounder got caught in there net. Then as Mr. Zee reach down to get the fish a alligator went for the fish. Mr. Zee was out of the water and standing on the tailgate of his pickup faster than superman. Everybody laughed and Mr. Zee said well "I don't eat alligators" everybody laugh again. The room was full of people and no one was taking the mic when someone pass it to me. So this is what I said.

Mr. Zee do you still have the pot bellied pig I gave you. of course he says The butcher won't even take him. How many have heard the story about Mr. Zee pot bellied pig? Nobody raises there hand. When I was in the Army I came home on leave Mr. Zee loaned me his car. It was earlier the next morning before I brought it back. I needed a excuse so on the way back I saw a man selling pot bellied pigs and stop and bought one knowing how much Mr. Zee loves pets. I bring him in the house with me and set him down on the floor and Mr. Zee asked what is this? I tell him that I was late because I was making the deal of the century for this Pig. He look at me and says I don't have a fence back yard where am I going to keep a pig? I tell him they make great house pets they only get to be about fifty pounds, He looks at me as says what about the smell? I tell him oh Hell Mr. Zee he will get use to it just like I did. The whole room is laughing so hard most are in tears. Mr. Zee laughing says and that fifty pound pig now weighs 300 pounds. They all laugh again. I start again: Did he tell you about the parrot he bought his Mom? The room all says no. Mr. Zee spent A thousand dollars having a parrot trained to say bible verses in both English and Spanish for his Mom to give to her on here birthday. Mr. Zee was busy the weekend of her birthday so he ask a friend to deliver the bird to his mother. So he called his mother up and ask how she like the present? She says to him it was absolutely delicious. He says "Mom you didn't eat that bird did you"? It can speak in two languages and knows the entire bible by memory. And she replies " He should have said something" The whole room roars with laughter. I go for my third joke. Mr. Zee found me in a blacksmith shop when I was 12. I had a Rolex watch that was my grand fathers. I gave it to Mr. Zee and said I would trade it for a place to stay and he said ok. he starting setting the time and said I don't think your watch works and I look at him with my 12 year self and said well! "look what you have got to think with". Mr. Zee smiled and said that is when I knew he was going to be a engineer. Everyone continue to laugh. The rest of the night was filled with the same upbeat humor and Mr. Zee raised enough money for the next two years. I found out that if you go with what you know there is plenty of laughter in life.