More Congrats in Store, More, More, More: Congratulations Lil' Cory!!

Man, I don't know what's going on lately, but it seems like good GOOD stuff is happening for people all around me. There's stuff going on that I didn't even blog about.

But, if you don't know by now, KNOW THIS:

I ABSOLUTELY love when someone I know achieve's a special goal in their life.

I LOVE IT. I LOVED-ED it.

If you don't know, you better ask somebody. Yeah, I'ma be skipping around, singing the smurf song, clapping my hands hard, tossing rose petals high in the sky...

I Love to see someone achieve goals... doing good postive things! And you know, I'm not thinking about the achievement, I am thinking about the story behind the process and path to that goal.

And I was wailing, yelling and crying this weekend at LadyTee's baby cousin Lil' Corey's graduation.

Congratulations Lil' Cory!!!!!!!!!

Lil' Cory graduated from Atlanta Area Tech this weekend.

If seeing Lil' Cory graduate wasn't enough of a treat enough, I got a chance to see the Hardest working man in show business, Tom Joyner, give the commencement speech.


That man is something funny. I have GOT to catch a Sky Show when it comes back to town.

You may ask why we call him "Lil' Cory". Afterall, he's a huge linebacker looking dude, lol. Well, LadyTee's man was named Cory. So we called her man "Big Cory". We came up with "Lil' Cory" to distinguish the two.

And he was little at one time. I remeber when he was 2 or 3 years old, and me and LadyTee would pick on him something terrible, have the poor boy wailing, even. His Mama, Nita (miss you, Nita!) would yell at us, and warn us constantly:

"You know the boy gonna be big when he grow up, right? He's gonna get ya'll back!"
We were like. . . so what. And we kept picking on him.

He got big. Was huge by age 12. Could pick us up and move us out of his path. Thus, we tred quietly around him.

He has been our rap expert FOREVER. We use to pay him no mind, but then we started seeing trends. Cory knew the hot music. He would boom different artists LOUD on his stereo equipment. We all do that, yeah. But, the difference is, Lil' Cory would do this 2 to 3 years before they blew up, before anyone had ever heard of them.

"Lee, this group is called Wu Tang, and you watch, they gonna be worldwide in a minute."
"Shut up, Cory, you don't know what you're talking about."

"Ya'll hear this right here? That's that Kast [Outkast]. They local folk right there. They gonna do it."
"Cory, shut up! And turn that mess down!"

"These peeps right here. Cash Money Millonaires. This boy name Master P. They gonna be fiya!!"
"Man, turn that mess off. You always playing some craziness."

Well, after awhile, well. . . Over the years, let's just say I get in contact with Lil' Cory before buying questionable music. He is ALWAYS right.

Anyhow, Lil' Cory has had a rough time of it over the years. Both parents passed away, and he's moved around a lot. He dropped out of high school. I mean, there were times when I hoped he was alright, where ever he was. Sometimes, all you can do is pray for people.

Then. . .

He and I had a private conversation one day.

We (Me, lil' Cory and LadyTee) were standing outside at my car some seven years ago, I believe. It was a dark fall evening. We were at LadyTee's house, outside talking. LadyTee ran in the house to get something for me.

Lil' Cory looked over his shoulder. Then he turned back to me.

"Lee," he said. "I'ma tell you something, and don't you tell nobody."
I nodded. Didn't know what the heck he was about to say. I just nodded. Almost smiled.
"Lee, I've decided to go ahead on and get that GED. I'm going to do it."
"Well you do that, man," I said. "Go ahead on and do it."

We talked more about it. He wanted to do it, but didn't want every one on him about it, pressuring him, I suppose.

I socked him on arm, popped him in his chest, told him he could DO IT.

I get a lot of that. I have convos with folk and they break out with "Lee, I got something to tell you, but don't tell nobody."

When I hear THAT? I'm like - Awwwwwww, suki, suki, now!!!

Why? Because that is the START of things right there. That person has been privately pontificating about something they want to do. Then I imagine them getting so swole up with the idea that they got to just tell somebody.

And they like to tell me. Let's just say I've seen one other person reach a goal this week, and I am not even blogging about that, since it's too private. But I saw the light in that person's eyes, and uh... got all happy again!!!

And that's how I'm feeling about Lil' Cory right about now.

He not only got his GED. Shoot, he did that a few years ago.

He went on to get his degree in Dental Lab Technology.

He not only achieved his GED goal... He went over and beyond.

And seeing him march into the Atlanta Civic Center in his cap and gown, I got a little choked up.

We had a convo awhile back during his first year of school. He explained the intricacies of denture making. I didn't know what the heck he was talking about. I just remember him being VERY enthusiastic in his explanation of the tools he used and all that. I had the *blank stare* most of the time, trying to take it all in. I eventually smiled, and asked if he was gonna be able to hook up the gangsta grills. He said he was thinking about it! LOL!! I also wanted to know if I could get the free teeth cleanings. (You know how we always looking for the "hook-up").

But, while he was explaining his craft to me, and now while at that graduation, I was remembering that night he said he verbalized that GED goal and was gonna do some things...

And here we were... he had done that and more.

So, congratulations, Shawty!! (Yeah, I'ma call you what you call me, man! LOL)

You know me, I took plenty of pictures. A TON.

I'll only post a few here.

First of all, Cory's best friend was there. Nothing like a BFF representin' for ya.


I think ol' Rodney has been his road dawg since high school. And that's a good thing!

LadyTee's Mama "Babs" was cheesing a bit too hard. That chick was fighting to get in the pictures, showing all 32 teeth.

"We need you to turn down the wattage, Babs!" LadyTee said.

It was as if the sun was blinging off her teeth. But she ignored us. She was happy for her nephew, and rightly so. So smile as big as your heart's delight, Babs!!!!!

All the fellas lined up for a group pic with Cory.

I tell you, why can't the young folks smile? Why do they have to always look like they're about to make a hardcore rap video? Even Rodney's little son got his mean-mug going.

Anyhow, that's cool.

Because there was one person with the sweetest smile of all. . .

Cory's 3 month old apple-cheeked baby girl.


Now, I was standing outside of Nell's graduation a few weeks ago, talking to Cory, and I asked him what his baby's name was.

Her name is "Korea"," he said.

*Crickets. MAD a$$ crickets*

I snapped on him. "How the heck you gonna name your child after some foreign country?"

He stared at me. "Lee, it's Corya. She has my name, just add an "a" to it."

I nodded. "Oh, my bad, my bad. That's cool. That's a good name!"

And Lil' Cory killed the mean mugging when it came to his baby girl, Corya.

His girlfriend was very proud. I can tell by that "leaning on the shoulder" thing she was doing. (Ladies, you know how we get when we know we got a good man!)

Baby Corya was sharp... Even down to the Polo sneakers.



Not suprising, because Lil' Cory is always sharp as a tack. Some 10 years ago, he taught me how to properly iron and crease pants, using the bootleg starch you mix in a bottle. ("Lee don't you EVER fool with that starch in the spray can. That's booty. Don't you EVER use that!!!")(I'll never forget that longwinded discussion! LOL).

More pics of Cory and Corya.

He's such a proud papa!!!

I'm proud of SO many people right now. I don't know WHAT'S going on this past week, but I've been getting good news from so many folks... I wake up with a smile every morning!

And Cory, I am, most of all, proud of you.

I saw it in your eyes, the fall night we were outside talking.

I wish we coulda got a snapshot of the future when we were talking way back then. But you didn't need it.

You had the one thing that you needed-

FAITH IN YOURSELF.

No glimpse into the future can trump that. And that was all you needed.

So Shawty... go hook some folks up with much needed dentures. . . or the occasional gangsta grill.

All I want to know is can you hook an Oldgirl up with some free dental cleaning?

LOL!!

Proud of you, man. Really, really proud!!! I know that you will do great things.