Strong Island Page #3

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The taxes were high

and the public schools were bad.

And now, on top of a mortgage

and car payments,

they had to pay

a combined 36 years of tuition

to put three kids through

Catholic school.

The bottom line was,

your father had to leave college.

It got too much for him.

He started working the night shift.

Sometimes I'd be coming down

the Southern State, coming home,

and he'd be going in.

I would blow at him, he'd blow at me

and we would wave, you know.

And for many, many, many years,

that's the way it was.

I think it was good for you guys,

but not good for a

marriage to thrive.

Hey, everybody

Let's have some fun

You only live but once

And when you're dead, you're done

So let the good times roll

I said, let the good times roll

I don't care if you're young or old

You ought to get together

Let the good times roll

I loved that my mother,

especially,

made it really clear that, no matter what,

my brother, my sister and I,

our principal job in life

was to love each other.

I'm grateful for that directive.

It's one of the reasons

why I miss my brother so much.

William was seven years older than I was,

and that is fantastic.

Being nine years old

and having a 16-year-old brother

who can get you into R-rated movies

and buy you comic books,

and be able to drive you around...

He would look at me and say,

"Kato, we're on a mission."

No matter what we were doing.

We could be going

to the grocery store to pick up...

wax paper, you know,

and he was like, "We're on a mission."

Another challenge

for the Green Hornet,

his aide, Kato, and their rolling

arsenal, the Black Beauty.

Kato was

the Green Hornet's sidekick.

Kato was played by Bruce Lee.

We grew up watching

old-school Batman and Robin,

and The Green Hornet.

Hornet gun. Let's roll, Kato.

Being called Kato was like,

an honor, you know,

because Bruce Lee was awesome.

We both loved martial arts, you know,

and comic books and stuff like that.

We'd, like, pass them around

and say, "Look at this.

Do you see the artwork on this one?"

"Oh, did you see the plotline on this one?

Oh, man!

They're going to kill this guy off? No!"

You know?

It was just awesome.

Football is how we met.

His dad and my dad,

and his self and myself,

were all on the same team.

And that's how we began

our friendship.

Ford was a center, I was

a defensive end,

and we used to rely on

each other for

rides back and forth

to practice.

From that time... until he passed away,

I would pretty much say

we were pretty much inseparable.

Me and William.

Ford was protective

of those around him,

especially his sisters.

I was 15.

He was the first person to tell me

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