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April 16, 2008
Chris Rose on Ashley
Chris Rose writes about Ashley today and gets it pretty damn close for somebody who barely met the man. He writes about Ashley the way we all wrote about Ashley, and the way Chris writes about most topics...through the lens of his own personal sense of loss.
He identified himself. Turns out, he lived across the street from me. That pain in the ass Ashley Morris was my neighbor!And it turns out I loved this guy; he gave my kids candy (and me a cigar) on Halloween, and he often invited me over to drink fresh Abita beer from the kegerator he kept plugged in on his porch.
I never accepted the invitation. I don't know why, really, other than I am generally anti-social. And I had no idea who he was.
What I loved most about this neighbor of mine was that he, like me, still has not taken down his Christmas lights. Our street shines prettier than most. That's such a New Orleans thing, the not taking down Christmas lights.
So Morris, now identified, invited me over for a beer and a smoke. "When I get back to town," he wrote to me in an e-mail dated March 29. And this time, I accepted.
Thing is, Ashley never made it back to town. He died April 2 in a hotel room.
I don't know the cause, but he was huge and he lived too large and laughed too loud and that kind of behavior can kill a man.
Exactly right. My last emails to Ashley are about plans we had, things we were going to do, "when I get back in town". And when he finally got back in town, it was by plane in a slate blue fabric-covered extra-large casket, which we later filled with cigars, drumsticks, Jameson, Abita Amber, Mardi Gras beads, a copy of Confederacy of Dunces, a muffaletta, and all the other trappings of a life cut too short which is hopefully being carried on joyfully on the Other Side, free of the bondage and weaknesses of mortal flesh and blood.
Thanks, Chris. We all needed that.
Posted by ray at April 16, 2008 12:41 PM | Permalink
Categories: [blogging | new orleans ]
Comments
Nicely done, Ray & Chris. I feel regret that I never knew him!
Take care!
~G
Posted by: G at April 18, 2008 7:35 PM
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