A Mother's Memory Part I

My Mom had a few memories she wanted to share, Her is the first . . .

I remember shopping with Lynn & Keith for a crib for Bobby at Babies are us. When the 2 young men who loaded the purchases into the car were speaking in Spanish to each other, I heard a third voice and was amazed to realize that Keith had joined right in in fluent Spanish like he was native to Mexico. I knew he had taken Spanish in high school, but I never knew he was so good at it. When I asked him about it, he said that he needed to communicate with the Spanish-speaking kids who helped him unload the truck(at McDonalds), and he learned it very well Spanish. I was really amazed to realize that he could converse so well in Spanish, and he didn’t think a thing of it.

Fred Astaire on Dick Cavett

Keith, like most of the Rollers, was a big television watcher. So when my mom recounted the particulars of his birth, I should not have been surprised. My mom was watching the Dick Cavett show at about 10:30 p.m. on Nov 10th. Fred Astaire was a guest. Mom went to the bathroom and found that it was time to get going to the hospital. This was before VCR's, TiVo, and the like, and my Mom wanted to stay a while longer and watch the interview (Which is so Keith.). My Dad intervened, and off they were to Des Plaines and some time around 2:30 A.M Keith was born.

But don't worry Mom, next year the prequel to Frost/Nixon is coming out. I hope you really enjoy Cavett/Astaire.

The Humor of Keith: Ham on Wry.

Keith had a great sense of humor. But the problem was that too often he had my sense of humor and I was already using it. When he wasn't trying to be me, his humor shone. Puns and song parodies can only get you so far. What he excelled in was observational humor.

One of my favorite lines I remember from Him was in describing my organizational system, or lack thereof.

A place for everything, and everything on the floor.

Not only did that comment describe me down to the empty file folder system next to the pile of papers, but it also showed the keen analytical mind that God gifted Him with.