This is Kenneth. He’s been through some serious shit in his life. I had the pleasure of photographing him a few years ago right before his birthday. Catfish is what they call him. The backstory to this fishy nickname has to do with his comrades who began calling him catfish one day because they said he looked like one. The name stuck, and from that point on,  you can see Catfish around the Fort Worth area doing his thing. He sings the Al Green tunes he remembers jiving to as a young man. Catfish and I share a birthday month. In fact, we have lots of things in common.

When I last saw Catfish, he was in real bad shape. His arm was in a cast, and it wasn’t healing right. He said it caused him some discomfort, but he didn’t really complain much about it. He was in good spirits, but a little hungry. So, we went off to get some burgers and fish up the ways.

I want to say these photos are well over 4 years old, but I can’t remember. You’ll read that there’s a lot on these blogs that I don’t remember. I have a bad memory sometimes about when I have taken the photos, and while I am aware they have time stamp meta data, I just prefer to go by what I remember when being there. What I remember is meeting Kenneth, a man who has been through some tough times. Confined to a wheel chair, but with his head held high, he just wants to live out his life like you or me. In many ways his hardships are what give him strength, and it only takes good people to believe in him to keep progressing through. That is what we have in common.

This man sang some Al Green songs for me and told me stories about his youth where watching television was the highlight of his life. It is a brand new year, and I’ll need to follow up with Kenneth “Catfish” again. Just hearing him sing once more will be the highlight of my life.