hannah and caroline and us
(part kiker)
((part one))


i've teased and resolved for 2009 that i would be subjecting you to other voices here on HACAM. today, we bring you the first in the brand, spankin' new series, "hannah and caroline and us". it only makes sense that we'd kick it off with one of the few people on this earth that i'd take a bullet for and that i am pretty sure would do the same for my girls. you've heard about him in posts and heard from him in the comments. let me now properly let you peek into the mind of my only friend that has permanently lost his first name.

(editor's note - i first thought i'd wait and post the entire interview at one time. after thinking it over, we'll give it to you in parts, so that you won't diss that latter half because your eyes are sore. please forgive kiker's proper use of capitalization.)

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kiker, would you firstly explain to the masses (and by masses, i mean the six people that will take the time to read this entire interview) how the cosmos has come to connect you to hannah and caroline o'kelley.

Great question Kevin, let me give the audience a little history here... Kevin and I crossed paths way back in the bowels of the AmSouth Bank branch in Center Point... Now, I had just left the office to take a job in beautiful downtown Birmingham but occasionally made a pass back by the branch to visit the old suffering co-workers. Eventually, time came for Kevin to leave the branch and spread his wings, so I suckered...er,...got him to come work downtown with me in the AP (ed. - accounts payable) department. It was good times....anyway....He would eventually come to his senses, leave the life-sucking corporate world for the youth pastor position at what I would come to call my second church, HUMC. (ed. - we'll get back to the second church thing in a bit.)

So, one thing people will learn about my relationship with the O'Kelley clan is that I am a trusty mover. First move was to bring Kevin from Moody, where he lived in a little apartment by his mother's house that she shared with a guy I'll loving refer to as R.B. (ed. - ahhh, ted rock.) So we move Kevin. We move him to Ascot Place. Good old Ascot Place.... I can still see it... The "Up All Night Diner" print with James Dean hanging on the wall, the fridge with pizza, (ed. - salad) dressing, and a two liter... It truly was a bachelor's paradise.... OK... So, back to the story... I get a call one day from Kev that he was thinking about kicking up a softball team, sounded fun... so I jumped in. And many, many seasons later... well that's another story entirely. (probably another interview) So one day soon after the wedding of an "Atlantian" (ed. - hicks) we know in which Kevin was a groomsman, I jokingly ask him.. "So did you hook up with any hot bridesmaids?", I mean it's a standard question guys ask, right? To my surprise, he answered with a "Well, as a matter of fact..." Apparently, he had caught sight of a bridesmaid by the name of Sarah Crump... Life would never be the same... in a good way. So... Kevin and Sarah marry. The wedding was great. I was honored to be asked to be a groomsman. I can still remember the fist punch I gave him as I met him at the alter. Seeing my friend that happy was great, he deserved it... Fast forward... to the following Christmas Eve, I will never forget it... I was walking out to my truck to go home for the holidays, great mood, I was truly in the spirit, when out of nowhere the harsh world socked me right in the nose. Someone had stolen my truck right out of the lot... Holy crap, was I ever in a balls mood after that. I was the black cloud... So, Christmas day I get the call that the expectant Mrs. O'Kelley had delivered a girl. So me and my cloud loaded up and drove over to see the new addition. Almost immediately it all changed.... When I walked into the room and saw my friend and how happy he was, how proud he was, and how beautiful that little baby girl was.... none of the trivial stuff mattered anymore, the truck, hell with it... it wasn't that great of a truck anyway... This would prove not be the last time one little Miss Hannah O'Kelley would brighten the day. Over the months and years, I still get the "run to me hugs" that make a guy with boys sometimes long for the little girl he never had. Hannah ruled the castle and had her dad in the palm of her hand. Time passed and Hannah grew into the little shot of energy we love now and then along came Caroline. While I haven't had the chance to bond so much with Caroline yet, I know that there will be "run to me hugs " in the future... and thats worth waiting for. The past few years (and i'm writing this assuming HAC will be older when they read this)... I've had the chance, no... I'll call it honor to come into the O'Kelley home at Christmas time and be Hannah and Caroline's "House Santa", its one of my favorite visits... seeing the reaction Hannah has when I walk through the door is incredible, and the magic in her eyes as she looks at "Santa Kiker"... It makes it all worth while. Hopefully, in the coming years, I will be able to keep doing the role, as Caroline grows she'll have that same excitement when SK comes to make a house call. There are very few people on this Earth that you know you can count on. I consider myself a lucky person to have had the stars align the way they have and be associated with Kevin, Sarah, Hannah, and Caroline. Yes, Kevin is one of the very few people that I would take a bullet for, have his back no matter what the situation. He has been there for me in some of the darkest times a guy can go through. His family is like my family... Hannah, Caroline, ... Uncle Kiker will always have your back. No matter what. OK, so that about sums up the history there. Through my friendship with Kevin, I've been fortunate enough to come to know and love Sarah, Hannah, and Caroline.

(to be cont'd)