Ruby's Tribute
When I close my eyes and think back I remember sitting in front of the TV on a Saturday night,
hoping and praying that Kerry would be wrestling that night. Remembering the fights that my sister Debbie and I would have on who was better: Kerry or Kevin. (Hey Debbie, Kerry Rules!) Then the music would come on and I would be out of my seat screaming. Many Saturday nights my mom would come in to quiet my sister and myself down. Being so young we did not know that the Free Birds were not really hurting them. My mom would just comfort us and tell us they would be ok. Today it makes me smile that mom never told us it was not real. We grew up watching wrestling and broke many dates because some boy could never compare to Kerry and Kevin. Our friends laughed at us but we soon had the whole circle of friends watching and worshipping the VonErichs. In those days my mother was single and raising three of us on her own with no help so money was tight. I never knew how hard it was till I started having children. But mom never said no when I had to have that little bitsy picture of Kerry in the magazine. She bought me them all. I just had to have Kerry’s pictures. On my twelfth birthday mom bought me tickets to see them Wrestle in Abilene, Texas. The day of the match three of my friends and myself loaded into mom’s car and we drove the hour drive from Coleman to Abilene. I had on my Kerry T-shirt and of course we had our signs. Kerry Rules! VonErichs Rule! Freebirds Suck! We were ready for it all. The excitement of it all was so hard to explain. We found our seats and I waited for HIM to come to the ring. Tom Sawyer came on and the world stopped. He ran to the ring and I fell back in my seat just mesmerized. That night was one of my favorite childhood memories. One summer my mom came to my sister and I and asked us to decide on where we wanted to go. We could go anywhere. Of course we said DALLAS. We had front row tickets. It was so exciting. Abdullah threw Steve Simpson on us and Gary Hart flipped us off. Then Kerry came out. Oh God I got to touch him. It was magical. I swore to never wash my hand again. I got to see Kerry wrestle many times after that in so many different places. I had by now moved to San Antonio and any time he was at the Freeman Coliseum I was there. As I grew older I never stopped adoring Kerry. He was and will always be a huge part of my childhood. All the dreams I had and the reality I had to face about him was all worth it. I learned he was not this God he was human and I thought he was the best, no I think he is the best. His death was like loosing a piece of myself, a piece of my past. It was just pure hell. Today at 30 I still have my little Texas Tornado doll standing here by my monitor, his trading card and my favorite pictures hanging in a collage on the wall in front of me and many many memories of him. I want to thank him for being my hero, for all the blood, the sweat, the tears, the pain. I would haven’t have missed it for the world Kerry. You are and will always be the best there is, the best there was and the best there ever will be. Rest in Peace forever and be free…
