CHRISTOPHER VOSS!

POEM!

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I have written a poem as a gift to a special friend, Chris Voss. I have posted it on many website. Websites where people are able to post comments. Many of the comments asked about the friendship and why such a special friendship would ever have to end.
I am posting this tribute page as the story behind the friendship and why I know as all good things, it will one day come to an end.

STILL FRIENDS!

At the present time I am still good friends with Chris but as it has always been in the past with other friendships, life pulls people into different directions and in turn pulls them apart.
I'm the kind of person who gets too close to people too easy, and when I do, I usually end up getting hurt. I asked a music director I once had " Why do I get hurt so easily?"
He sat me down and explained it to me. He said " We're musicians, and as musicians our feelings run much deeper than the average person. This is good because it enables us to be able to pick up a piece of sheet music and take in what it's saying so that we can present in a way that other people can feel it too. But it can also be bad because we tend to wear our feelings on our sleeves, which makes it so that we get hurt easily. We also tend to read people. If someone walks in the room and they don't look at us or they look in our direction but they have a mad look on their face, we tend to think that they must be mad at us, when what's going on with them, may not have anything to do with us. We need to be careful about reading other people because we can get the wrong impression."

One day I thought, if my feelings run deeper than other people because of my music talents, then I must be super sensitive because I also write music, poetry, plays, and stories, along with painting pictures. So I try not to allow myself to get too close to people for fear of being hurt. But once in a while someone special comes along that manages to break through that brick wall I've built around my feelings, even if they don't realize they have. I'm also the kind of person who believes in showing someone I care rather than just voicing it. So when someone makes a big impact on my life, I do things for them to show them how much they mean to me, hoping that no matter what the future holds in store, they'll always remember that they hold a special place in my heart and they'll have my gift to remember me by.

WORKING AT WENDY'S!

I remember the first day Chris walked into the Wendy's restaurant to work days. He was working nights up till then. I remember looking at him and thinking, who is this. He was a stranger and not someone I would have thought I would have become friends with. Fellow workers come and go and many times you'll run into them on the street and they remember you but you can't seem to place them, but you don't let on that you don't remember them.
Then Chris began working during the summer as an opener. So the three openers were Chris, me and my friend Tiffini. Tiffini and I came to refer to Chris as our Chris.

Chris is very warm hearted and a practical joker. Dropping ice down your shirt, throwing ketchup at you or squirting you with water. He made working there fun and somewhat carefree. Then he went back to working nights and I only saw him when he came in at four in the afternoon. Then he took about three months off and everyone wondered he was even coming back, but he came back, working days and nights.

CHRIS RESEMBLED JOHNNY!

One day I took out a cassette tape I had bought a year earlier, "Johnny Rivers Greatest Hits " to listen to it on my way to work. As I listened to it I looked at the picture of Johnny Rivers on the case and I realized how much they looked alike. The next time I saw Chris as I was leaving and he was coming. We met at the time clock. I said, " Chris, have you ever heard of Johnny Rivers?" He shook his head, no.
I said, " He does the song " Poor Side Of Town ", he shook his head no. " I said, " He also does the song, " Secret Agent Man." Chris said, " I know Secret Agent Man." I said, " You know, Secret Agent Man? How do you know, Secret Agent Man?" He said, " I know, Secret Agent Man." He used to watch the reruns of the TV show that used that song as its theme. I said, " Anyway, he's the one who does that song. You look like him."

I SHARED WITH CHRIS JOHNNY'S PERFORMANCE!

. The Ed Sullivan Show Rock & Roll Classics Vol 1 1965 to 1967

Then I ran across a video tape of The Ed Sullevan Show where Johnny Rivers was singing " Baby, I need Your Lovin," I watched that video and compared every expression, movement and look. I knew then and there that Chris could be a younger version of Johnny Rivers.
One afternoon while I was leaving and Chris had to work from 11:30am to 8:00pm and I was leaving at 4:00pm. Chris was kidding in a serious way and I couldn't tell if he was kidding or not, he said " Will you go home!"
I looked at him and said, " What is your problem?" I looked at the guy on drive thru sandwiches and said, " That's just his way of showing me he likes me."
The guy on back sandwiches commented, " Oooh, Belinda and Jim Morison," who was the lead singer of the Doors," Which Chris was told he looked like as well. Chris said, " No, she thinks I'm Johnny Rivers."
The guy said, " You do look like him."

JOHNNY RIVERS TRIBUTE!

On my Johnny Rivers Tribute page, I mention how I had gotten Chris to sing on occasions. Well one occasion I remember was, Chris was working drive thru register, I was working the speaker, taking orders and the manager was bagging the orders. The manager started singing the song " Wake Up Little Suzy ", I started singing it with him. Chris leaned towards me and said that he always liked a song called " One Tin Soldier Rides Away ", his mother used to sing it to him when he was a little boy. I said, " I know that song." I started singing the chorus. He said, " Yeah, that's it." I sang the whole song as he leaned in, listening with a smile on his face. He asked, " When you go back into the studio to record, would you record that song for me?" I said, " I'll record it on my first LP and dedicate it to you." He said, " Don't forget." I said, " Trust me, I won't forget." Then he said, " You know what song has always been my favorite?" I said, " What?" He said, " Happy Together." I said, " You Have to sing it." He said, " Alright I will." He sang the whole song for me and I joined him in the chorus and the ending of the song. I think he has a voice for singing. It just has to be trained. He doesn't think so.

Anyway, as a result to his fun, carefree, friendly ways and the fact that he looked a lot like a younger version of Johnny Rivers, I became very close to Chris. I wrote the poem for him as a gift. You can hear the recording of the poem on this website- Chris' poem.
The poem won the editor's choice award and was published in a book, LIP'S 'Best Poems And Poets Of 2002 " and on a three CD album " The Sound Of Poetry." And is featured on many websites. You can read the poem CHRISTOPHER VOSS

CHRIS'S BIRTHDAY!

Click on Chris's birthday and get some info about his birthday and get to know a little more about him.

July 26, 1983

This is neat--have a great day

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