My Favorite Memory of Vernon Forrest

For those of you that don't know me I'm a massage therapist, and I've been working with pro boxers for many years. I am so blessed to have, and have had the opportunity to work with so many talented athletes. Vernon was no exception. I'd like to say first off that I along with everyone that knows and loves him is devastated over his death. He was a great person, and I am thankful that I got the chance to know him. There won't be one day that he won't be missed. My favorite memory of him is when one time I went to work on him when he was down here in FL for camp. (I don't remember which fight it was. I've been working with him for quite a while) I forgot to bring my relaxation music with me. So I told him that I had a CD in my car that I thought he would like. I went to get it while he got on the massage table. He was face down already half asleep because he had sparred that day. I turned on the music, and as soon as it started playing his head flew up, and he said, " WHAT YOU KNOW ABOUT AL GREEN??!!" (It was a oldie R&B CD with different artists on it) Well I almost fell over laughing because of the way he said it. I told him that just because I'm an Italian originally from NY doesn't mean I don't know about Al Green. Vernon got so excited because he loved every song that was on there. He loved it so much that he was belting out every word of every song. God bless him because he couldn't sing worth a damn!!! He was horrible! LOL I was trying to stay as professional as I could, but he was such a bad singer that I couldn't stop laughing! I had to respect it though because he sang his heart out! He sang with so much passion. He was feeling every single note, but couldn't hit one of them! LOL He kept saying, "Come on girl, sing with me!" He sang with his whole body. He was moving around, swinging his arms all over the place. He couldn't lay still for a minute he was so into the music! Then about after 4 or 5 songs he asked me what I thought of his singing.. He told me that I could tell him the truth because he already knew how good he was. So I told him.. "V.. you know I got mad love for ya baby, but omg please don't quit your day job!!" LOLLLL I swear I don't think I ever laughed so much, and so hard in my life. I don't even know if I gave him a good massage, because he had me laughing so much that I could barely stand up! I told him that for the rest of my life I would never forget that day, and he told me that was the best day he ever had in camp. He said that was the best thing I ever could of done for him besides working on him. He copied my CD to his laptop right afterwards, so he could listen to it whenever he wanted, and he told me that I wasn't allowed to play any other kind of music from now on. I am so grateful for the time I've spent with him. I want to also tell all of you how sorry I am for your loss as well. For those of you that were fans, or even if you weren't. Please respect the fact that Vernon was a human being just like the rest of us. He was a son, a brother, a uncle, a cousin, a friend, and most importantly he was a good father. R.I.P. V.