I wrote this Aug. 2, 2020, just hours before my brother’s funeral. I wasn’t sure if I’d be able to speak so I was gonna have my husband read it. I found strength though.

Cantreal, Black, UGod (see picture for explanation) Daddy, son, brother and friend. He answered to so many names, but my favorite was KK, the first to make me a big sister.

I remember the day he came home from the hospital, mama laid him on the bed and I laid next to him. He was a huge baby with big brown eyes, thick black curls and soft, bright skin.

Yes you heard me right, he was once light skin, 35 long years ago.

Growing up there was never, ever, ever a dull moment in our house and when Roman came a year later, it doubled.

I remember one day hanging clothes on the line to dry. My mom and stepdad were gone. Cantreal and Roman were playing outside and all of a sudden I see my stepdad’s blue 1957 Chevy truck rolling toward the bushes.

I ran toward the truck and all I saw was the top of KK’s head over the sterling wheel. He hops out the truck, while it’s still moving and I jump in and hit the brakes before putting it in park.

My heart is racing and he’s sitting on the step laughing uncontrollably. He had to be 6 or 7 years old. So I was like 12. Again, never a dull moment.

I remember finding my doll heads laying around. I’m looking everywhere for the body and can’t find them. One day Roman said follow me. I followed him outside, he pointed to the roof and there were my dolls. I’m like who did this (already knowing) and Roman said KK did it. They probably still up there, I forgot to look yesterday when I rode by there.

There were a few chill moments, like when we came home from school and watched our afternoon shows while eating snacks. Batman and Robin, Leave it To Beaver, Talespin and Chip and Dale Rescue Rangers. My daughter watches some of the same shows on Disney Plus and I always remind her how I watched with my brothers.

But in all of KK’s childhood mischief there was a genius. I’ve always told everyone, KK was the most intelligent sibling of us all.

KK was also the boldest and realest of us all. What you saw is what you got. He loved hard and he was loyal. If you were his friend you knew it. If you were his foe, you knew it. He told you to your face or he posted it and tagged you. And I loved that because you always knew where you stood with him.

I wish I had more time to make memories with him, we truly we on good terms and for that I’m thankful.

In recent years he’d call me randomly to shoot the breeze or say “check this out” whenever he said that I knew he was bout to vent or spill some good tea. And lately I’d been calling him more.

When the pandemic started I called and said now you know you need to stay in the house. He hated when I asked a lot of questions, but he’d answer, then say. Well alrighty then thanks for calling…

I’m grateful that the last seven years were spent building a legacy in his children Caiden and Maya. You wanna see KK smile or soften up, look at pics of him with his kids. Read post about his kids, have a conversation about his kids. Being a father was his best role yet. Your daddy lives on through you two Caiden and Maya!

He’ll definitely be missed, but I find solace in he’s healed. I was going through old Facebook posts of one of his 50 pages and in 2017 around Christmas he posted. “Tell Saint Nick I need a new heart.”

Well KK Christmas came early for you this year. You have a whole new body, you’re healed and pain free and for that reason alone I’m at peace.

So I’ve been asked a few times who was UGod? Why did he call himself that recently? Well a few years ago he had a few mild heart attacks, mild but serious. He almost died. Cantreal wasn’t very religious, but he had a relationship with God, in his own way. He even had a favorite gospel song that our baby sister Jada sang at his service. Anyway after his serious health problems and hospital stay a few years ago he said he woke up and all he could say was “It was you God, UGod.”

Title: Living with HIV
Grandmother copes with deadly virus
Date: June 27, 2005

OCALA – Dee is unsure how she contracted the HIV virus. It could have been
from a blood transfusion in 1966, but she doubts it. The more likely
culprit, according to the 55-year-old grandmother, is a long-ago
relationship that went bad.
However she contracted the virus, Dee’s diagnosis hit her like a truck.

“I really didn’t believe it,” she said. “I was ready to kill myself.”

After the initial shock wore off, however, Dee began to learn to live with
it.

She still struggles with many aspects of the disease, she said. For one
thing, she guards her secret from her grandchildren and from neighbors..
For this story, she would consent only to using her first name.

She said she wants people to understand that having HIV is not an absolute
death sentence. But living takes work. She takes 20 pills a day, and
doesn’t dare miss a dose.

“You don’t say you’re going to skip them today, not if you want to live,”
she said.

Dee is one of an estimated 1.1 million people in the United State – and
34,508 in Florida – infected with the HIV virus, according to the Centers
for Disease Control and Prevention. Right here in Marion County, 468 people
live with HIV/AIDS.

Those tallies could go up today as health officials around the United
States participate in the 11th Annual National HIV Testing Day, a day
established by the National Association of People With AIDS to promote HIV
testing and AIDS education.

The theme this year is “Take the test, take control.” Locally, the Marion
County Health Department will administer tests for free at the main
office, 1801 S.E. 32nd Avenue in Ocala.

“We want our citizens to take control of their health,” said Johnny
Thompson, public information officer for the Health Department.

Dr. Nathan Grossman, director of the Health Department, agrees.

“It is important for the citizens of Marion County to know and understand
their HIV status,” Grossman said. “This knowledge allows individuals to
make timely and appropriate preventive and treatment decisions for
themselves.”

There are three main types of testing for HIV – blood, urine, and oral..
The Health Department will test blood.

Lake County will also will offer free testing at the Mt. Dora Clinic.

Soul Harvest Ministries and Project Healthy Choices will also will offer
free testing in the Ocala area.

Candace Lewis-Khufia, chief executive director of Project Healthy Choices,
said her organization will offer Ora-Sure testing beginning at 3 p.m.
Ora-Sure is the oral version of HIV testing.

For Dee, being diagnosed was a key event that allowed her to begin dealing
with the disease. But she bemoans what she says is a lack of resources for
HIV sufferers.

“I want them to get their heads out of the sands,” she said of the
community. “I want them to understand that anybody at any time can get
this.”

Thompson, however, said local health officials don’t have their heads in
the sand. The Health Department, he said, understands very well the plight
of HIV patients and works to get them help through such offerings as the
Medicare Waiver Program, AIDS Drug Assistance Program, and the Case
Management Program, all of which are in Marion County. There are also
federal programs to help citizens.

He said officials also can refer patients to resources in nearby counties,
such as the Ryan White Program in Alachua County.

“I hate for our citizen to feel that way,” he said of Dee’s criticism.

Dee’s gets by on faith and hope.

She said she relies on her faith in God and the power of prayer.

“I talk to Him every morning and I say good night to Him,” she said.

Beyond that, Dee takes life day by day, moment by moment.

“You don’t plan for anything,” she said, “because you don’t know what the
day is going to bring.”

Copyright (c) 2005 Ocala Star-Banner
Author: SHAKA LIAS STAFF WRITER
Copyright (c) 2005 Ocala Star-Banner