City Personals
Billy Cupp Jr. (Little Billy always to me), died last Thursday in his home with family beside him. His lost his battle with cancer, although thankfully, it was a short one.
It has always been said you can pick your friends but you cannot pick your family. In this instance, I picked both with Little Billy. He was a constant in my life, as his Momma (Becky) and my Momma (Kay) were best friends from the cradle and are still. When we were young, the adult group got together for what seemed like every single night. If it was not down at Little Billy’s house, it was at ours. Fish fries galore, hush puppies floating and always a grand time.
I am not sure if everyone knew the complexities that were Little Billy. He was devoted to a lot of things in this life…his beautiful wife, Tammy, his Pug, Mr. Peabody, his church, Christ Episcopal, his family, his friends, his books (Dean Koontz and Stephen King high on the list of favorite authors), fishing and cooking (really more so creating as his culinary abilities would rival those of Gordon Ramsey), and nobody can forget Chrissie Hynde (if you know, you know), to name just a few.
Christ Episcopal church was literally overflowing with people showing their love and support, but most of all to respect, for Little Billy. There are not enough hours in the day to even begin to describe the lives he touched over the years from real estate (Street Fighter) to the postal service to being a constant face at the food bank and the community. If there was a need to be met, you can bet your sweet self he was there to lend a hand.
If ever you had a secret you just had to tell, Little Billy was the one to share it with, as his lips were sealed. Rest assured, he would give you his opinion on the matter but he would never utter a word you spoke. A true friend in every since of the word, a brother our mothers chose for me.
Something else about him is he never judged anyone. That was a true blessing for me, as the list of reasons to judge me is copious. At the end of the day, I firmly believe he whispered my name in his prayers more times than not. A true Christian.
Hardly ever in my adulthood did I mention Little Billy’s name without Tammy attached. When I tell you their love was a once in a lifetime event, I truly mean it. I have never witnessed such admiration between two people ever like they had for one another. Two people who literally enjoyed one another’s company. True love through and through, for all eternity. Mere words cannot come close to explaining what those two as a couple meant to me, much less what they mean to me separately.
The coming days, weeks and months will be an adjustment for all. The thread that holds it all together is the fact that Little Billy is reveling in Heaven with all of those who have gone before him. Our streets will never be the same but the ones paved in gold are already better!
I will close with a poem Little Billy had matted and framed for Tammy some years ago. Tammy’s niece, Alexis Waxman, read it beautifully during the service. It describes the love he had for Tammy, and she for him. May we all try to be the kind, gentle soul that was Little Billy. He was one in a million.
Funeral Blues ~ W.H. Auden
Stop all the clocks, cut off the telephone,
Prevent the dog from barking with a juicy bone,
Silence the pianos and with muffled drum
Bring out the coffin, let the mourners come.
Let aeroplanes circle moaning overhead
Scribbling on the sky the message He is Dead.
Put crepe bows round the white necks of the public doves,
Let the traffic policemen wear black cotton gloves.
He was my North, my South, my East and West,
My working week and my Sunday rest,
My noon, my midnight, my talk, my song;
I thought that love would last forever: I was wrong.
The stars are not wanted now; put out every one,
Pack up the moon and dismantle the sun,
Pour away the ocean and sweep up the woods;
For nothing now can ever come to any good.