If I had one word for how I felt the first time I met KC it would be well, intimidated. Kristen and I had not been dating that long yet when she had asked me to accompany her at a family birthday party for her nephew cooper. I knew of KC at this point, and after all he was my girlfriends father. But that was not what prompted my anxiety. No, what caused my anxiety was his voice. you see, I had not officially met him yet but I had heard him before.. I couldn't have been older then 17 when I dropped by Kristen's house to say "Hi". "Hi" usually consisted of us making out for 20 minutes until we said "Bye" ...Making out for 20 more minutes. While we were "talking" outside of her house, I heard this booming voice calling for Kristen. He was right around the corner! I don't remember exactly what happened but I think at that point I just said bye and took off. He sounded pretty intimidating and I was making out with his daughter, I wasn't about to stick around to meet him. Fast forward 6 or so years, and Kristen and I finally started dating. Not sure what took us so long, I guess God had some work to do first. Not long after we started the courting ritual of dating, she invited me to family function. A family function in many ways is the true initiation of a relationship, and this was no exception. I think I met everyone that day. Brothers, sisters nieces nephews, friends of family and friends of friends. But not KC. He had not arrived yet so I had plenty of time to be anxious. Yay. Less time then I realized passed before KC and Loretta did arrive though and as he was walking up all i could recall was his voice. The booming voice which scared me off a few years prior. Even as he walked toward us, he appeared very confident. Not someone I would generally wanna piss off. He had a kind of mob boss type of presence about him and this paired well with his Barry Manilow meets dirty hairy voice. I am not writing to highlight the intimidating characteristics of KC though, quite the opposite. Yes, if you didn't know him and had only heard his voice while you were making out with one of his daughters, you too could prob imagine him with his sleeves rolled back holding a wooden baseball bat in an abandon warehouse with a group of 'vinnys'. But I thank God that I did know him and I thank the Lord for that. As we approached them he turned to me and destroyed my prior perception of him in a moment. Without hesitation, without judgement and completely authentic he put his hand out and with a big warm smile he said, "Hey Guy its good to meet you" or something very similar to that. But I could tell, he was genuinely excited to meet me. From that point on, ever time I came over to eat dinner or pick up Kristen, I got the same warm greeting. He never toned it down because he never toned it up. He was always genuine, always real with everyone he engaged with. He loved people, and it showed through His true desire to make everyone comfortable. As the years passed he became more then my girfriend's dad. He became a friend, a close friend And eventually, my father in law. But KC was family long before the law defined him as such. Im not sure exactly why I wrote this. I think its partly my way of concluding. Its also because I feel he is deserving of high praise. I learned so much from KC and what I learned did not come from lessons, but just observing how he treated others. I am grateful for what I gained. We, gained alot from his life. So in conclusion, I think I can end with, well, one word. One word for how I felt the last time a met KC. The last time I met KC I felt Blessed. Blessed by his friendship, Blessed by his giving, blessed by the lessons learned and blessed by his life. I thank our Lord Jesus in all that we received through KC, and am filled with joy when I think about their recent reunion. Our daughter Hope will be born soon. One journey ends when another begins. And we will honor KC through Hope. Her full name will be Hope Kaycee Keach. The lessons of KC's Character and the blessing of his life will be remembered through the life of those he left behind. With Love and Joy
-B
