I will always love me some Tony “Monkey” Brown! One of my best friends in High School. I don’t know that I ever called him Tony in his whole life. Kinda like “Beetle” Bailey and “Nesbit” Sanders. He would always ride home with me in the Maroon Balloon to Wren. He used to make fun of me singing along with Toto in falsetto. One night we ran out of gas, and literally ran about 2 miles to my house to get a gas can. German Shepherds were going crazy in one of the yards, and I sprinted past him out of sheer fear! He laughed at me forever, saying he had never seen a white guy run so fast! We played basketball all the time after school and on Saturdays. And of course, he was a great trumpet player. Who remembers Tony, Pruitt, and Marsha Jones playing “Bugler’s Holiday”?!?? His grandmother sewed my Drum Major uniform! I will always treasure the memories and the friendship. His passing today again reminds me of how short the time is, and how much we should treasure our friendships. Take the time to tell those around you how much you love and appreciate them!