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Tommy was my neighbor and the best friend I ever will have. When I spoke at his funeral I began my reflection by asking, "Who would have thought?" Here we were, two best friends, kids from the Tortuga. One of us had changed manufacturing processes in Southeast Asia and beyond. And then there was me. We weren't supposed to do all the stuff we ended up doing. The reason we did all that is because of Tommy. I first met him when I moved next door in February, 1968. Probably the smartest person I've ever met, he was also the most humble. In his senior year in high school, he began a literary magazine called Felinity, publishing poems and essays written by Fabens students. I contributed a terrible poem. But he gave me the first taste of having one of my works published, and in doing so he taught me that it was possible. Tommy began university studies majoring in sociology at UTEP, but family obligations were such that it would be decades before he finished his degree. And yet he inspired us and pushed us forward. His sister, Norma, went to Notre Dame after graduating in 1974. Gloria, class of 73, was a giant in her own right. But certainly I would never have lived the life I've lived if it weren't for Tommy. It's hard to explain, but back then, people from La Tortuga weren't supposed to go to college. Tommy is the reason some of us started looking beyond our horizon, and the reason we were inspired to live for something greater than our own existence. When I die, people will probably remember me for the things I've done as a lawyer, but the truth is I'm a musician still waiting to record his first hit. My life really began back in 1968 when Tommy introduced me to John Wesley Hardin and Highway 61 Revisited. There are few things as dangerous as introducing an eleven year old kid to Bob Dylan. The world WILL change. There is nothing I can say to honor and do justice to the life of my best friend, but I will say that his life changed all of us in Fabens. We began to believe that dreams are worth striving for, and we learned to care for one another and stretch our hand out to pull those coming behind us. I miss Tommy, and hope that my life does justice to his memory. Salvador "Chava" Colon. |
