Today would have been Ridchard LeRoy Vickrey (Skip) Lewellyn’s 57th birthday. He died in June of 1999 in a tragic accident at work. Too young, too young…
He used to call me up when he was drunk and this song would be playing in the background:
I Will Always Love You
Dolly PartonIf I should stay
Well, I would only be in your way
And so Ill go, and yet I know
That Ill think of you each step of my way
And I will always love you
I will always love you
Bitter-sweet memories
Thats all I have, and all Im taking with me
Good-bye, oh, please dont cry
cause we both know that Im not
What you need
I will always love you
I will always love you
And I hope life, will treat you kind
And I hope that you have all
That you ever dreamed of
Oh, I do wish you joy
And I wish you happiness
But above all this
I wish you love
I love you, I will always loveI, I will always, always love you
I will always love you
I will always love you
I will always love you
Once when he came to visit me or I went to visit him, it’s been so long ago I don’t recall exactly, he rented “The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas” because I had never seen it. It was so long ago that he actually rented the machine to watch it on too! The movie was made in 1982…Twenty-five years ago.
Personlly I liked <a href=”“>Whitney Houston’s version better (love the sax in that version) but Skip never veered from the Dolly Parton version. I wish that I had asked them to play it at my daughter’s wedding. Just for old time’s sake.
It was really hard to hang up on him when he would call and that song was playing. I usually listened to the song until it ended and then I’d say goodbye… The last time he called me, my daughter was in Germany. That would have beein 1992-93, I think.
Oh Skip, I miss knowing that you are in the world somewhere, loving me. I will always love you, Darlin’. Until the day I die.
B
