I found out this morning about 10:15 IST that my cousin Jacob has left his body. We had a very special connection. And the picture below that is of just me and him, that was from about 3 weeks ago when we hung out and played music last. I think just thinking positively about someone can be helpful. And his Fam & friends could use some thought. If you have other practices, please put them to use for us. Jacob George and I grew up in this little town together called Danville. His mom would teach mine piano lessons and him and me would hang out, playing outside or playing video games-interestingly enough--Desert Strike on the SNES. He and I were very different kids. He got sent off to a boot camp/school and joined the military. Just as he got back from down range I was becoming the leader of pro-peace and anti-war activism on the UA campus. We had a couple of awkward visits but by this time we were family because his dad had married my aunt, so there was no getting away from each other. Gradually he came out against the war--the army had hesitated to pay for his college, which is one of the main things recruiters tell people theyll do. This is how lots of people from rural areas, particularly the south, get swept into the war machine—lack of opportunity. I remember how he looked when he came back from the war -- right triangles for trapezoid muscles extended from his ear lobe to his elbow. He. Was. Buff. His grandma and I had played music together for years, mostly gospel and gospel jazz. Shed passed away just as he began learning banjo. He went by Possum for years when he got back from the war and never talked about his experiences there fighting for the free market, oil and the like. When the army didnt pay for his college, it began to wake him up, I think. Eventually hed become leader with Veterans for Peace, but that was only later. First, he got this idea. The idea was that hed ride on his bicycle all over the Southeast spreading the word about war. He called it the Ride Till The End. He said hed go until the war stopped, and he did in fact go for a few of years before Pres. Obama announced troop withdraw. It was only because of activists like Jacob that the US will withdraw from a place—not because it’s simply the right thing to do. Jacob knew this and he was active for that reason. He did very cool stuff in that period of activism. Went to Afghanistan to meet with Afghan Youth for Peace. Marched arm-in-arm with Amy Goodman. Threw his medals at the warlords when they met in Chicago a while back. He was doing great work. To help fund his activist life, I co-produced a CD called Peace From The Hills. You can download it at the dropbox link. Its all really, really good. The first track, Back Home, has Jacob on vocals and yours truly on horn. Holy Ground is a poem I re-did for the CD. And the tune Ride Till The End is by Kelly and Donna, some of me and Jacobs besties, and it tells some of Jacobs story. Then more recently Jacob produced an album called Soldiers Heart. Its a lot heavier in parts, than the album I worked on. My fav track on it is I Dont Care which if Im not mistaken was a Taliban poem that Jacob put to music. Another great one is “Playground of War” about a guy Jacob met when he went back to Afghanistan as a peace activist. It’s this guy’s mission in life to pick up the landmines left by the Soviets and the US. The first track on the album is really sweet and part of it is about our hometown--Danville, Arkansas! Yeah, check that one out, too. While I was living in Argentina in 2009 my grandmother passed away, so this isnt the first time to miss community consolation and death ceremonies. Hopefully losing folks back home wont happen to any of yall, but as far as advice, I can tell you that what Ive done is just called whoever I felt like. Cassie. A friend I hadnt talked to in years. Jacobs friends. (Thank goodness for Skype.) Ive gone for walks. Embraced my new friends here a little more deeply. Bout to wash some clothes just to keep busy. Cassie provided some much needed support this morning just after I found out about it. Thank you again, Cassie ji. Well, thats all. Thank you for reading ;) Yeah, Im sad. Hold me in your HeartMind. And enjoy the music. Lovingly, Stephen https://dropbox/sh/nvh7c8prj2bp426/AACaiRBfJy-JFLLF_QwOHURYa?dl=0
Posted on: Thu, 18 Sep 2014 15:54:32 +0000