So much changes in just one year of our lives, and we can change - TopicsExpress



          

So much changes in just one year of our lives, and we can change so much in a year--time is precious and so are the people we spend it with. Thats what I thought when I heard of a friend passing yesterday--exactly a year to the day since I last saw him. I didnt know Kyle Johnson all that well when we were both a part of the burgeoning Minneapolis music scene in the late 80s. I used to go see his band, Run Westy Run, every chance I could. Their live shows were incredible and the band remains the great unsung superstar of a Minneapolis music scene that spawned so many great bands--including the one that I would later join, Babes in Toyland. It was through Babes Kat Bjelland that I came to know Kyle in a much different way, exactly a year ago, when they came to visit me and my daughter, Anna, at our lake house in Minocqua, Wisconsin. It was a wonderful, peaceful and fun visit. SMores around the firepit, fishing from our dock, and flying around the lake in the boat. That kind of visit. The ones I need more of. The ones that end up being how we remember each other. When I first heard the news of Kyles passing, my brains Minocqua Kyle avatar leapt to the front of my brain. It is an image of him grinning, beaming, sated--the kind of happy you see not only in a smile, but in someones eyes that tells you theyre in a really good place. I thought, I have a photo somewhere... We were in the boat, going slow in the channel, my brother John was driving. It was afternoon and the sun made his face golden, sitting facing me from the stern. That broad, inclusive smile. Picture perfect. I whipped out the iPhone to capture it. Sunglasses were donned--still the rockers. So you cant see the eyes. But you can still see the smile. When I went to look for the photo, I noticed the time stamp. August 8, 2013. A year to the day he left us. I knew Kyles brothers better than I had known him. They were a literal band of brothers all those years in the scene. They must be devastated. I have a brother like that. John. He was driving the boat that day. Today he is in the hospital in Minocqua, recovering from a surgery that saved his life for a condition he had no idea he had. I could have easily lost my brother this week. So much happens in a year. My relationship with Kat, on the boat that day, has been transformed this year. In ways I would never have imagined. My daughter is only a year older but has changed so much, I can barely see the baby in her face any more. So much can change in a year, and we can change so much. Time and the way we spend it is so precious. Too rare. My heart goes out to Kyles family, his children, and all who knew him a hell of a lot better than I did. Im just glad I got to know him when he was in a really good place. As he is now.
Posted on: Sun, 10 Aug 2014 03:24:07 +0000

Trending Topics



Recently Viewed Topics




© 2015