Katherine's Grandfather

He was working the room when I walked in, a tall silver haired man in black jeans, a blue shirt, black vest. Hi, he would tell the individual audience members with a wide grin, I'm Ronny, thanks for coming. It was as if he was any old guest at a casual party, certainly not special or well known, anything but a well known Hollywood actor. He shook my hand when I introduced myself and took a seat at the edge of the small stage, chatting and joking with everyone around him. This was a man who came from film, who had worked with icons and played heroes and villains with equal ease. This was the guitar player in "Deliverance", the detective who had worked with Eddie Murphy, Ozark Bole from "Bound for Glory". But here in a small, intimate setting, this was Mary's husband and Katherine's grandfather, a traveling folksinger, songwriter, storyteller, a genuine, easy to know and open hearted man.

There were no Hollywood tales, rather, he spoke of his wife and the illness that had taken her, of the birth of his granddaughter and her initial struggle to survive. He spoke of public grief and the healing process and he put it into songs, sweet, gentle and sad, ending with a wistful smile. I sensed that he was on the edge of willing and anxious to join his wife, that he would not regret his own passing when the time came, that he had a fine tuned appreciation of love and loss and wanted to stay as much as he was unafraid to go. He was a handsome poet of a man, as down to earth as they come and his music touched everyone who heard.