I met Ray May of 2000 on ICQ, he messaged me because he said he liked my screen name, we became instant friends. We messaged for a while and then decided we would meet at the movie theaters and go see "Gladiator". The movie sucked bigtime but the friendship was great. He quickly became my rock. He was the best friend one could ever hope for. Of course, all friendships/relationships/etc. have its ups and downs, but one thing you could always count on, is for him to have a smile on his face and in his heart.
He loved God and always tried to do what was right, and you could depend on him if he told you he would do something, consider it done. We did just about everything together, went to the beach twice, countless trips to the zoos and shopping, helped clean each other's houses, vehicles.
I am sad to say that in 2007 he felt the need to end our friendship for a very stupid reason, and it broke my heart in a million pieces. This past week I was very saddened to learn that he had passed away in his sleep. He left this world hating me, and that's something that I will never get over.
Over the past few years, he had strayed from God and Church, but I read on his Facebook page that he had renewed his life and was Baptized again, so knowing he was once again right with the Lord makes this loss a little bit easier. Ray was not in good health for years. He was a severe bad diabetic, and several other health problems played a factor in his passing.
He loved my dog, Penelope very much and she loved him, all you had to say was "Your Uncle Ray-Ray is here" and she'd go racing to the back door to greet him while wagging her beautiful tail. He was a huge fan of "The Duke", "Scooby Doo" "Ohio State University", and his eyes were the most beautiful eyes of anyone I've ever seen, a soft heart made of gold and most of all, kindness. The first year we went to Myrtle Beach we unloaded our things at the hotel and headed to Walmart to get groceries and such, and he found a pink pillow/blanket set with a tiara on it that said "Princess" and he said he had to get that for his baby Penelope. That was sooooo sweet.
I want to share a few funny stories about Ray.
We went to the zoo on our way out of Myrtle Beach and came upon the Lion cage, well for some reason this Lion didn't like us, he got down off his rock and kept circling the cage, I know if he could have gotten out, we would have been lunch! So, the path was narrow, and I kept watching the lion and he was getting mad... I told Ray on the last circle that the lion had reached his wits end and that he had better RUN... Well, I got out of the way, and before Ray had time to react, the lion cocked his leg up and shot pee right at Ray, had Ray not leaned back as much as he did, he would have had a pee bath. We would have had to go get another room and take a shower before coming home. LMAO... I can still see that image and laugh even through the sadness.
We went out in the ocean on a banana boat, and I had the time of my life, but Ray was scared and swore never to do it again, I couldn't get enough of it. We went out on a cruise ship and overlooked the Atlantic Ocean and loved every minute of it. We played cards at the hotel every night and had the door open so we could smell and feel the ocean air.
I have a lot of incredible memories with him. He truly was my best friend. My life will never be the same without him. I will write more about him as time allows, so please keep checking back for updates.
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