Remembering Old Friends
Jun 25, 2020 12:41:00 GMT -5
LCSeminole, Casey Leedom, and 22 more like this
Post by AudioHTIT on Jun 25, 2020 12:41:00 GMT -5
In high school I had a good friend named Tom. I met him first as a musician and we played together now and then, but we were mostly in different bands. He also skied and we were able to share that once, but often we just hung out, went to concerts, hiked the cliffs, listened to music, or got stoned. We even shared some early audio love, his dad had a nice stereo we listened to, and we were both pioneers in an early format called ‘the cassette’.
Tom was a year behind me but we stayed in touch in college as we were both still in Southern California. Shortly after he started his sophomore year I got the heartbreaking news that he’d fallen off a cliff and died. His family asked me to be a Pallbearer at his funeral, which was one of the hardest things I’d ever had to do. After the funeral and reception, some of his friends got together to play music as a memorial, this turned into me playing in his former band for some time. I knew Tom from about 1967 until 1971.
Then several years ago I reconnected with one of his sisters on Facebook, we’ve since kept in touch with each other online. Last month she made a post that her father’s 94th birthday was coming up, so I wrote him a birthday eMail congratulating him, telling him about what I was up to, and sharing memories of Tom. He was delighted and wrote a nice reply which included that he had kept Tom’s guitar under his bed all of these years; when he heard I still played he said he wanted to give it to me. I was stunned, touched, honored, and delighted; last night it arrived along with a picture of Tom, I tuned it up and played a bit while thinking about my friend (it probably still had the same strings he once played).
My cherished new possessions, a vintage ‘60s Gibson ES-125TDC, and a photo of Tom playing it.
Tom was a year behind me but we stayed in touch in college as we were both still in Southern California. Shortly after he started his sophomore year I got the heartbreaking news that he’d fallen off a cliff and died. His family asked me to be a Pallbearer at his funeral, which was one of the hardest things I’d ever had to do. After the funeral and reception, some of his friends got together to play music as a memorial, this turned into me playing in his former band for some time. I knew Tom from about 1967 until 1971.
Then several years ago I reconnected with one of his sisters on Facebook, we’ve since kept in touch with each other online. Last month she made a post that her father’s 94th birthday was coming up, so I wrote him a birthday eMail congratulating him, telling him about what I was up to, and sharing memories of Tom. He was delighted and wrote a nice reply which included that he had kept Tom’s guitar under his bed all of these years; when he heard I still played he said he wanted to give it to me. I was stunned, touched, honored, and delighted; last night it arrived along with a picture of Tom, I tuned it up and played a bit while thinking about my friend (it probably still had the same strings he once played).
My cherished new possessions, a vintage ‘60s Gibson ES-125TDC, and a photo of Tom playing it.
