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 I have been so busy lately traveling across this nation and I have some great big things to announce in the next few weeks. But, I had the chance to stay in New York recently and passed the area of town I where I used to be homeless. I remember the streets as cold and yet hopeful. Many nights I was crawled up in a corner with a newspaper wrapped around my legs and arms for warmth and another guy a few feet away, with the same hopes and dreams. I wondered many times if running away from home was the best idea. I was looking for my heart to heal, running for a place my tears would dry up, a field I where I could feel the grass touch my feet, or air I could feel reach down into my soul. I still have a box in my office to remind me where I came from and where I could go back to. I never take for granted Who and why I am doing what I do. HE is my only hope from a homeless box to where I am today.

I remember calling my Mommie and hearing her voice, I wanted to say "Mommie I made  a mistake, I am hungry, cold and scared." But, I didn't. I decided to be a man even as a boy. And God has brought me through many roads without a roadblock, a mountain without a peak, and a desert overflowing with an ocean. Even in my storms, He has found a place on His shoulder for me to lay my head. When I cry I know He is heading into my shadow to dry my eyes and remind me, He chose me to do His work, He chose me to live.

I am really opened to the thoughts of my soul today. Many of my close friends know one of my closest mentors was Tiny "Tip Toe Thru the Tulips" Tim. In 1985 he walked into a radio station I worked in at WHKY in Hickory,NC and offered me a job. I turned him down and continued my spiral into drug addiction and depression. It wasn't long till I moved away from home and found myself homeless and alone. I called Tiny Tim and he asked the guys at Olcott Hotel in New York to let me in his apartment/hotel. I waited for a few days for him to get back home. And when he did, he began to teach me about forgiveness, appreciation, salvation and redemption. Yes, Tiny Tim. He was a true man of God. He and I would walk the streets of New York every night and discuss why he didn't mind being America's joke. He didn't mind people laughing at him, he loved to make them smile. He told me he didn't mind being the ugliest person in the room, because everyone else got to feel pretty.

I soaked in every word this man said. I became his co/manager and we began traveling in the Alan C. Hill Circus show. We never had any money, but we always had fans and smiles. I learned to laugh at myself, I learned to forgive myself, I learned to depend on God. We lived on 10 dollars a week some weeks. We ate out of deli trash cans, we lived and slept in bus stations and never stopped laughing. We tried to destroy our hotel rooms for press. All we got was nearly arrested. We finally made a few pages of the National Enquirer. Boy were we happy, we got to eat for weeks.

I remember Tiny telling me one night to always respect woman and never betray my body. Always live a peaceful life. Love my self in spite of those that hate us. He swore a life of celibacy until marriage. He never ate meat and bathed 5 times a day. He thought cleanliness was the closest thing to God. A funny but weird story; I carried 2 toilet seats with us on the road. Tiny wouldn't use other peoples toilets. I had to carry a pair of pliers and change the toilet seats in the studios or hotels. He amazed me. We couldn't walk 3 feet on a street without a fan wanting a photo or autograph and we couldn't even buy a loaf of bread to eat.

I learned early before I had a real career, fame doesn't mean money, and money doesn't mean fame. I cried the day I moved back South to work in the music business. he cried and said "Son you will always have no place to come back to" - That meant the world to me. For I knew what he meant. He had nothing to offer, no home, no money, no life. But, he had everything in his heart to offer me. Life, God and a true spirit and friend. I remember picking up the phones and never knowing who was on the line, Liz Taylor, Jimmy Stewart, Ronald Reagan, Jay Leno. Everyone loved Tiny Tim - but, no one knew his situation. He would give money away. I decided many nights on tour to go without food, so he could give the money to someone else. I learned to live off his kindness.

As my life and career began to grow, I always kept up with Tiny Tim. We remained friends even as his health began to fail him. I remember the call I received, he had suffered a heart attack while singing and playing "Tip Toe". Doctors tried for over an hour to revive him. But, at the end of that hour, my greatest friend was gone. His eyes had closed before I could ever get big enough to tell the world who and what he was, to bring him the security and honor he deserved. I miss you my friend. You are  a part of every # 1 song, every million dollar selling album and every lesson I teach my own kids.

I had a friend send me this video someone made for Tiny Tim. I hope you enjoy it.
 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nGHObNW8wjU&feature=related

Reader Comments

Wonderful article. Thanks for sharing this with us.

Southern Gospel Group - “One More Time” - http://www.myspace.com/onemoretimegospel

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