Invisible Sis.

December 3rd is what I heard was the day of you birth

I never saw THAT day, though I've seen that day over 25 times

And yes I tried to make that rhyme but please let that sit on your mind

Was never told what happened, just knew I came in your succession

I did see the pics tho, with tubes in your nose

I stare at those pictures endlessly, just to see if you look like me

I'm pretty sure that you're the perfect intertwine of Fatz and I

Definitely more refined might I add but that's kinda sad

Just knowing that you departed before I got started

How you would've acted I'd like to know

Maybe a cross between my shy and reserve and Fatz' loud and ghetto

Think you can get the picture but I LOL at the mixture

Wonder if looking in the stands, I would've had another biggest fan

Probably wouldn't be as crazy as the ones to your left and right but that's alright

'Cause I'm sure you would've been crazy in your own right

Wonder how we would've all fit on that fold out couch

And with whom you would've stayed when we were almost spread out

Just writing this now makes me wish you were here

But last night in my dream you appeared to me clear

So although you will never be here physically

Through my thoughts, heart, and words you'll always be with me

The Maturation of J Reed: Vol. 17

The prom came up in the blink of an eye. I would have to gauge my excitement at an 8, on a scale from 1 to 10. But if you check out my father at the time, he was at a 1000. I've never seen him so excited. I think one of the big reason is because my father loves to dress. He gets his suits custom made and he likes how he can come up with his own way of expressing his weird self thru fashion. Another reason was because I didn't really like to dress up when I was younger. So my father saw this as an opportunity to bless me with his sense of fashion.

When I say that my father spared no expense for my prom, that may be an understatement. I had never been shopping in Georgetown before then, and I haven't been since! He picked out the nicest things he saw and asked me to try them on. Then when I saw the price, I would immediately put the article of clothing down. He would just say something like, "Go 'head man and see how it feels!" So I did and to be quite honest, the saying, "If you look good, you feel good" was totally accurate. I would look in those mirrors (aye, don't the shops in Georgetown have the clearest mirrors?) and think to myself, "dag, am I really this handsome?" (lol that's not arrogance because I really didn't think much of myself back then)
I remember one shirt in particular that made me look like a celebrity. It was 100% silk and I'm sure that you can guess that it was a pretty penny. I tried that shirt on and took it off knowing that my father wouldn't spend the money that it cost to get it. Not only did my father buy it, but he got the man to knock off $40 from the asking price. I was amazed. Not that my father spent the money, but that he did so with a smile on his face. If any of you know my father, you'd know that he cries about money all the time. So for him to spend that money and not trip was a shock.

K.K. was just as excited about the prom as I was. And if she wasn't, she needed to be nominated for an Academy Award. Instead of going to a store and buying a dress like most of the girls at the prom, she went to taylor and had her dress specially made.

On the day of the prom I ran around D.C. like a chicken with his head cut off. I skipped school because I knew I had a lot of stuff to accomplish. I started off my day at TJ's house getting my hair done. His mom was great at working with my short hair, so I knew I would go to her. I really appreciated her. After my hair was finished, I tried to pay her for all the times she did my hair for free and she wouldn't accept it. Now matter how much I pleaded with her, she wouldn't allow it.
I left TJ's house and went to P.G. Plaza Mall. I really can't remember what I went up there for, but I'm sure it had something to do with the prom. Actually, before all that running around, I have to add that the first thing I did was pick up my rental car from the airport. This allowed me to do all the running around that I "needed" to do.
I had a couple other friends that needed to pick up stuff too, so after I got my hair done I picked up Lenny and Kenny to ride around with me. I felt so grown riding around by myself running errands. You couldn't tell me anything that day. I had a car that didn't have to leave at the end of the night. I had, what I thought, would be the fliest outfit at the prom. Plus, I had a fist full of money in my pockets (Thank you Aunt Dollbaby).

After I did all that running around it was time to get ready to go. I took my time. I'm a person that usually starts getting ready 5 mins. before I'm supposed to be there, but that day I started to get ready about 2 hrs. before I was set to leave. I didn't want to sweat (I'm a heavy sweater lol) before I actually go there, so I took my time doing everything.
When I was done dressing, it was time to take pictures by myself. Since I was driving, I had to pick up my date, and my family wanted to get pictures of me before I went and got her. So I modeled a little bit before I went off to pick up KK.

The Maturation of J Reed: Vol. 16

Going into the last months of high school was difficult knowing I hadn't signed with a major college. In early May, it was down to two schools for me. Blair Academy and Fort Scott Community College.

Blair Academy was a post graduate high school in Blair, New Jersey. I knew that if I wanted to show Pitt I could still play, then I had to go to a place where I would be close to them, and I had to play and play well. This was a little unorthodox for someone in my position. I was already a qualifier in my Junior year of high school with a 3.0 gpa and over 1000 on the SAT's, but I figured if I went to this school for at least a semester just to play football, then I would have a shot at getting recruited again.

I sent my film to Blair and they were excited to get a player such as myself interested in their program. As soon as he saw the film he gave a critique and requested that I visit the campus immediately. I was happy to be shown such interest seeing as how much recruitment turned from a dream to a nightmare. I also knew that this could set me up to gain interest from other schools after I completed my time there.

Fort Scott Community College was located in Fort Scott, Kansas, about 3.5 hrs. away from Kansas City, Missouri. I was surprised when the coach came to my high school and asked to see me. At the time, I didn't realize that community colleges had on campus housing, let alone gave scholarships. So when he asked me if I wanted to come to Kansas I was shocked. At the time, one of the schools that were up and coming in college football was Kansas State. So I thought that this could present an opportunity to garner the interest of their recruiters.

In the end, I picked Fort Scott. With all the opportunities that I had come my way, I thought that this would be the best one. It's a shame that I was totally wrong...