My wife, Celeste, and I were waiting in the lobby of the posh New York City Hotel for legendary soul and R&B singer Percy Sledge. Earlier in the day, Percy Sledge and I were on national radio talking about his Alabama roots and how Jim Crow was still the law of the land. We talked about his early days in those cotton fields, the birthplace of a melody that would become his signature song that would one day get him from the dust of the cotton field to the gold dust of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.

The conversation included Percy's early band, The Esquire Combos, though he said he could only play on weekends back then because he worked full time as an orderly, cleaning bed pans at an Alabama hospital. That's when we started talking about his health and how he narrowly missed death by diabetes, a silent killer. We were together for the purpose of making the general population aware of Type-2 Diabetes, most especially the African-American community, and why screening, diet, exercise and education were so important. Percy had no idea he was supporting the disease through his lifestyle.

The national radio tour was very effective. A lot of Americans got screened for Type-2 because of the message delivered by Percy Sledge. This authentic, warm and kind man reminded me more of a gentle preacher than world famous singer. Our memories together with this wonderful man will be with my wife and I forever. The elevator door opened and out walked a beaming Percy Sledge, winking to us that he'd be right over, as soon as admirers finished asking him for his autograph and wanting photos. I still remember the wide separation of his two front teeth and that beautiful smile. And all that's now gone, in a wink of an eye. May Percy Sledge's memory live forever in our hearts.

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