IN GRATITUDE: ANDRE N. MILLER & RICK LUPERT

Note: Please click on photos to expand view

Andre Niland Miller

I went through his numerous photos on Facebook/Meta trying to find a photo with Andre Niland Miller alone. After a few dozen scrolls, I gave up and cropped one to show just him. I hope he won’t be too upset with me, because Nilan, one of his dear sons, was also in the photo before I cropped it.

Kim, Nilan, Taylon, and Dre 06/22

Sometimes pictures are worth a thousand words, and this is one of those times. You see, Andre Miller is not much of a “me” guy as his photos indicate, and to which my relationship with him since high school can attest. 

With Steph and Lenora, 12/2020

Other than the exception of Lenora Thomas-Morton, my high school sweetheart, I’m not in touch with many from Weaver High School days in Hartford, Connecticut. No surprise. That’s almost half-century ago!

Brothers Bosco & Dre stylin'

But Dre, my doubles partner on the tennis team for only one season before he moved to California, is different. He was different then, and he’s different now. I was different then too, but not Dre kinda different. Dre was always going to be someone to make his mom proud. Me? I probably took at least a decade off my mom’s life.

Tee-shirt by Dre

Not long after my, then, partner and I moved to Fort Myers, Florida, it was Dre who came for a visit, who hung out and played pool with me. Did we hit any balls Dre? We had to! And, I don’t receive many gifts, especially if it isn’t a birthday or something (Stephanie being the exception here), but Dre sent me a treasure made with his own hands. It symbolized one of the most memorable periods of my life: my time as a University of Hartford Hawk.

It truly saddened me when I got his text a few months ago saying that he was and had been in the hospital with COVID for 2 months! So out of touch I had been that I had had no clue. I was thrilled when he sent me the video of him taking his first steps in the hospital during recovery. 

Taylon & Nilan,
Dre & Kim's pride and joy

Yep, Dre should be doing Prudential commercials cause this guy is a rock! I didn’t doubt that he’d be out of the hospital before much longer, and a few weeks later I got the message that he was going home. YES!  He had defied the odds and had made it home. 

Rick Lupert

Ok, I guess after all of the above, it should have been no surprise to me that Dre was the only individual to respond to Rick Lupert’s (and my) call during my featured reading at Cobalt Poets in June 2022 to “tip” the featured reader. I thought I had made it quite clear that any “tips” would find their way back to Rick and the Poetry Super Highway. If you haven’t traveled the Poetry Super Highway, it’s wider and busier than an LA freeway. Check it out some time.

Anyway, after the reading, there were the typical “you were awesomes” but, initially, no tips. I had told Rick that I was going to make my contribution to the Poetry Super Highway cause nonetheless.

After years of providing opportunities for people to share their work- and there’s no more open an open mic than Cobalt- in my naivete, I thought I’d be ordering several copies of Rick’s books to distribute as valuable gifts. Eh-eh. Didn’t work that way.

In any event, I ordered Rick’s God Wrestler from Amazon to do my part. It wasn’t long after I had placed that order that I received notice from PayPal that I had received $$. Seriously?! Turns out that Dre had watched at least some of the post-Cobalt video of the night I had featured and showed his character once again.

Dre’s tip covered the cost of my purchase from Amazon, and after numerous notifications that it would not arrive on time and queries about canceling the order, God Wrestler has finally shown up. I’m looking forward to a more extensive sit down with the collection because Rick has the kind of wit that can pin the biggest of guys or gals- depending on your worldview I suppose.

Bottom line? This is a thank you to Andre N. Miller, my ole DP…that’s doubles partner… for his generosity and support, and to Rick Lupert for what he does with the Poetry Super Highway, Cobalt Poets, Haikuniverse, etc. I enjoy feeling gratitude. Means there's something to be grateful for. Wishing your continued recovery goes smoothly Brother Dre!