THE BACK SIDE OF HISTORY

Eugene Allen
"His is a story from the back pages of history. A figure in the tiniest of print." ~ The Butler: Eugene Allen; See also, A Man of Faith

One reviewer called it the "black" Forrest Gump
Here's the problem with that:
Eugene Allen
actually lived through 8
presidents (are you counting?)
Three decades
Never missed a day...
The pantry man
who shook the hands
of eight US presidents...
He was not a fictional
idea in somebody's mind
and he was no "slow"
mentally challenged man
who got rich by accident
while history was happening
around him: no. He lived
in Washington, DC 
on Georgia Avenue NW
and commuted to the back door
of the white house where he was
butler and maitre d'
once invited to a state dinner
and celebrated his birthday
with Gerald Ford... 
Not some black Forrest Gump.
That is the ultimate
insult to a man who served
with dignity in a servile role...
a man who lived through
his wife's alcoholism
and infidelities and
hugged her in the end
as his story was being told
Try not to be so
insulting or disrespectful
of a life so full of history
even if it was a life on the back
pages--he knows things, 
saw things, carried them
in his body while he
chose the champagne
or roasted duck and vegetables
even if his life was/is
the tiniest print in history
he is history--not a poor
man's Forrest Gump.
A man of faith 
an usher
a trustee
At The Greater First Baptist Church
He used his skills of service
of reading people
in church and in the white house
He was dignified, quiet
and lived through turbulent times
and wore it well. People
say he deserved his almost 91
years. Don't insult him
by calling his life's story
a Forrest Gump knock-off.
He. ACTUALLY. EXISTED.

Valerie Bridgeman
© August 16, 2013