Today is my dads birthday, and he wouldve been 61 yrs old. For some reason, this year in particular I feel compelled to share a story about us that not too many people know about. He died just over a week after his birthday in 1999. My dad was an enormous Grateful Dead Fan, and when I started getting serious about drumming as a teenager, he bought me Mickey Harts books about drumming and spirituality. So the week of his final birthday, during my first year at Berklee, Grateful Dead drummer Mickey Hart spoke about, signed, and sold advance copies of his new book at Tower Records. The book was called Spirit Into Sound: The Magic of Music. Me and my new Berklee friends (who were all bigger dead fans than I) went to the signing. I bought my dad a copy and had Mickey Hart sign it to him, wishing him a happy birthday. I was super excited and so proud of myself that I couldve put together such a fantastic gift for him. So much so, that I decided to call him immediately to tell him about it. He begged me not to tell him, explaining that hed rather anticipate a great surprise, and have me give it to him in person. That year, I couldnt join my family for his actual birthday, but no one stressed because we knew that Id see him soon enough and I could give it to him then. Well his birthday passed, and in the middle of the week after he randomly called me, telling me that he couldnt handle the suspense anymore, and asked me to tell him what I got him. By that time though, my excitement had been suppressed, and I knew I had to give it to him in person. No no no, I said. You wanted a surprise, youre gonna get one. Youre just gonna have to wait! We chatted a bit, said I love you, and hung up. I believe that was the last time I spoke to him as he died a couple days later, unexpectedly. When dealing with unexpected trauma like that, lots of thoughts and questions and haze and grief takes place, but through all of that, my last interactions with my father kept me spiritually grounded. At that point in my life, I was the furthest thing from religious by any traditional definition. But I then realized, whether all of this is a divine plan, divine science, simple science, or just coincidence, none could have crafted a more cosmic joke for me to share with my father during his final days with us. In the midst of the chaos during the funeral planning, I was pondering my purpose, my calling, and how when I finally had found my zone while beginning my studies at Berklee, how such a tragic event could disrupt this. I snuck a quiet moment to myself, and cracked open his book for the first time. Its a book of quotes, so I didnt start at the beginning, but rather opened to a random page and this is an excerpt of what I found: …they have the idea of the crossroads, the point where the spirit world and this world intersect. Certain things attract the spirits to a crossroads. One is music. Happy birthday dad.
Posted on: Thu, 13 Nov 2014 18:34:18 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015