Our cousins lived across from us. Lil John, Precious and Chris, the oldest.

Chris got great grades in school and my earliest memory of his career goal was to be a pilot. But life takes us into so many directions that it can lead us astray from what we ultimately wanted to become.

Chris was a lover of music and always had the latest jams and interesting stories from his partying at local clubs like Pascals/Giovanchys. Groups like GQ, Change and Dynasty were on frequent rotation from the stereo. I became a big fan of two of the artists he would continuously play.

In 1980, I remember seeing an album with a guy sitting on a white horse and the name Prince in the upper left corner. He was a little different than most of the artists I was listening to, but this was the guy who had the hit "I wanna be your lover" sitting at the top of the charts and was coming to town. My mom and I, sister and her best friend Cheryl went to see Rick James, Prince and a group name Kleer at the Baltimore Civic Center, April 1980. Anyone who knows me, knows I have always been a huge Prince fan and it started with Chris and his music collection and that concert.

That same year, I heard him playing "Get behind the groove" from this new artist that also became one of my all time favorites. It was Teena Marie and the shock wasn't how great her music was, it was discovering this big, sassy, voice was coming from a 'lil' white girl with  a ton of soul running through her veins.

Chris passed December 1991, and these photos capture his energy and spirit. It is said that a photo speaks a thousand words. Yes, but it also conjures up a thousand memories.