not fade away

"For those just tuning in, it's a sad day today. Jerry Garcia has passed away..."

12 years. can that be right?

12 years have passed....really i can't believe it. still seems so vivid in my mind and then again as i dance to various dead tunes around my living room with my little dude, (who, little known fact, was born while the dead played in the background) it does seem like a lifetime ago that we'd pile into the vw bus (true story) and head south, way south to immerse ourselves in this vibrant, mystical community. from the moment i arrived, i was transformed, captivated.......free.

mickey hart once said of the band."The Grateful Dead weren't in the music business, they were in the transportation business."

and what a ride it was. (read - what a long strange trip its been) the craving you'd get for a show. nothing since has come close to the experience of those days. the connections, positive energy, the welcoming openness -- "strangers stopping strangers, just to shake their hands".

unforgettable moments, kind people, my memories remain. i carry with me the perspective i gleaned from those years. even now as i listen to the dead the music pulls at my heart, makes me smile, sing, and more often than not, dance. i love that that feeling has never faded. i hope it never will.

their music took you on an evolutionary journey, each show different from the last, though there was that tracking of 'the rotation' that hint of a promise that you'd hear your songs. "what's it gonna be, what's it gonna be" my friend jeremy would whisper...those words would float around me as i swayed to the hum of the guitars, shaking my bones to the beat of the drum(s) singing along with a huge smile when 'that' song you wanted to hear that night rolled out.

so many great shows, great friends...great stories....great sets (the famous rain set) ah.....

i miss you jerry. thank you, for a real good time.

Fare thee well Jerry Garcia (August 1, 1942 - August 9, 1995)

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an earlier form of community -- in 1971 this appeared on the sleeve of the album Grateful Dead (the bands 2nd release) it read:

DEAD FREAKS UNITE: Who are you? Where are you? How are you?Send us your name and address and we'll keep you informed.Dead Heads, P.O. Box 1065, San Rafael, CA 94901.

and so it began, a phenomenon, and now, there's nothing left to do but smile smile smile