Reconnecting with Tony Blades......

What's happening Fam?

Last night I wound up reuniting and having dinner with a long lost friend from my past. Ya'll know me well....so you already know that if someone should cross my mind or enter my thoughts, and I haven't seen them in a while.....well that's a "sign" for me to check in on them or reconnect if I have lost touch.....it's a er..."Pisces Psychic" thing with me....ya know?

Well, a few months ago, brother Tony Blades' name came up during the course of a conversation....it was interesting to me because back in the day when we were all partying till the wee hours of the morning and then going straight to work (lol....I DEFINITELY cannot do THAT stuff anymore...ahhh...the joy of youth!) Tony was a person that I saw frequently....we all partied together....lol...The Pulse, 70 West, Club Harambee, The Omni Hotel, The Roosevelt Hotel, The Mark Ballroom, lol....I could go on forever but in a nutshell.....We (Diva's Encore Models & Friends...) ABSOLUTELY RULED THE PARTY scene in NYC for years!!

When we all met, I was working at NY Mag and modeling on the side with Diva & The Encore Models and Tony was modeling - his face was plastered all over billboards & subway posters as the face of Benson & Hedges (I think it was B&H....sigh....I wish I had a copy of that photo...it's legendary)....for like....FOREVER??? He also played ball for the WBLS Sure Shots, rolled with Vaughn Harper and he was a big ol' tall brother too (6'6")...oh yeah...did I say he was a cutie too??? lol...ALL the girls were trying to holla at Mr. Blades back in the day!

But I digress....anyway, after the convo with my friends and the trip down memory lane that ALWAYS comes with these conversations....I realized that we had ALL lost track of this brother and no one knew where he was. The last time I had heard anything about him - he had moved to Vegas and was working with Motown Cafe (remember THAT place?) and then Poof!....
Nothing...... he just disappeared.

So as it turns out, I was sitting at my computer working on some blogs (lol....like I am now) and he crossed my mind again. This time I took it upon myself to do a "google" search on him and managed to find his name on Linked In. I didn't know if it was him or not but I sent an email anyway and lo and behold a few weeks later he responded!!!! We chatted via email and told me he had just left NYC and would definitely holla when he returned. He said he was pleasantly surprised to hear from me and he was looking forward to catching up soon, we exchanged phone numbers and promised to reconnect as soon as possible.

Well as fate would have it, I got an email from him a few weeks ago on a Sunday and he said he was back in town and would be here until Wednesday. I managed to tie him down on Tuesday and agreed to meet him for dinner that evening. He was staying in the W Hotel on 17th & Park...(lol...where it all "began" for me) and after heading home to feed my monster....I hoofed back downtown to 14th street. It was frigid night, so you know my behind was dressed in layers, like an Eskimo. I called him from the lobby when I arrived and he quickly came downstairs to greet me.....lol..the minute I saw him it was like I had just seen him yesterday....I kid you not - he hasn't changed much at all (except he's rocking the bald look like the Runway Diva....lol) and we hugged for a very long time.

We were gonna hang out at the bar at The W to catch up but it was packed and he was hungry so we opted to go down the street to City Crab (one of my faves) and have a cocktail or two. City Crab was fairly empty so we got a table quickly and Tony decided he wanted crab legs - I decided to follow his lead (since I really do love crabs) and I ordered a cold Bass Ale to go with my crab legs. Once the waitress went to put in our orders we quickly got caught up on each other's lives......

I found out that my boy Tony, now divorced, is doing very well for himself....He currently provides security for Chris Rock. He travels all over the country with him and he seems to really be enjoying what he does. He's told me of his travels with Diana Ross & her son Evan (lol...interesting story). He also told me that he had been following my career and was very proud of what I was doing. We talked about old times and how we partied and WHO we partied with (am I the only one who remembers Flavor Flav showing up at parties at the Roosevelt Hotel with that stupid Viking hat on looking crazy as hell????). We talked about the passing of old friends like Bob Jones, L.D., Rand and Gene Pendergrass, one of the Dow Twins and the many other folks we have collectively lost track of. We spoke of old flames, old rivalries and people who made us laugh (like Frank...the Asian kid that dressed like John Travolta in the White Suits and the layers of gold chains...back when we partied at The Pulse every Thursday night!).

We talked and talked took photos and even managed to eat all of those crab legs without missing a beat (fyi...to City Crab....don't leave the crab legs sitting in water....it ruins the taste of them). I ordered a trio of Sorbet for dessert and even stopped to holla at some new fans....

As we walked back out into the chilly weather and towards his hotel, we hugged again and promised to not lose touch again. I do hope that he calls me when he returns to NYC....I'm feeling like it's time for a reunion of some sort by this summer - what cha' think Tone?

It's LONG overdue.....

Holla!

Tony B. my love.....

Love you Boo, thanks for dinner and I am SO very glad that I found you....don't disappear on me again!

Friendship is not something you learn in school. But if you haven't learned the meaning of friendship, you really haven't learned anything.