Kurt Alloway portrait

 Today on this, my free coloring pages blog, I am getting very close to my heart.

Kurt Alloway was one of my two best friends in the world. 

He passed away a few days ago. 

Kurt Alloway

Kurt was one of my two very best friends when I was growing up.  He was my friend and my defender.  Although I did not know it, nerdy me, who grew up with a trach tube for much of my youth, was never teased in high school in my hometown.  For a year and a half, my family moved to a nearby town.  I was bullied mercilessly by the "cool" guys who were primarily athletes.  I was born with a birth defect in my trachea and esophagus, so I wasn't allowed to play sports.  I had been put in a PE class with the entire football and basketball team.  They made up mean nicknames and plastered me with snowballs.  They called me nicknames all over the school.  Nowhere was safe.  

But when I moved back to my hometown, I had Kurt and Mike.  They were my team. The three of us were the three musketeers, and it was so nice to be back in my hometown with them.  20 years after graduation, Kurt explained to me that if any kid so much as looked at me sideways, he, Kurt, would pin them to a locker and threaten to pound them if they chose to harass or tease me.  Kurt was not a violent guy, but he was a big cowboy being raised on a ranch.  He never actually pounded anyone.  But he DID give me peace and friendship my last year and a half of high school.  

Kurt even dated my sister and her friends.  Those women remember him as a very nice guy.  Kurt also was incredibly intelligent.  He was an inspiration because he was unfailingly kind.  He understood nature and the West Desert of Utah like no other.  I will miss him. 

NOTE:  To get the printable version of today's drawing, just click on the button that says "People and Portraits."  Then scroll down to this title.  Click on the title to get the printable coloring page.