keantes

When I was 18 years-old, waaaaay back when, I attended my grandparents golden wedding anniversary. It was a hoot of a party at the Catholic Hall. It was also the last outing my father took with our family before he succombed to cancer three months later. The cover band that was playing there that night went into their rendition of “Blue Eyes.” I remembered thinking, although at the time I was not aware that I was a fan – but my mother was, that I needed to find her and give her a hug. I found her huddled on the floor in her party dress, lying there down a dark, back hallway all alone. You could hear the muffled lyrics to the song as they drifted to her hiding place. The realization was more than my own mother could bear. It was the same song they’d sang to each other years before as she’d loaded herself onto a bus in the rain and headed back to college. (It wasn’t Willie’s version.) They were so in love, they couldn’t hardly stand it. Thirty years later, the song seemed to epitomize my mother’s greatest fear. She really was about to loose my father, but today she still looks forward to seeing him again. Needless to say, Willie has had a huge impact on my life and upbringing. His music is engrained in every memory. I have read his books and listened to thousands of hours of his music…some that most have never heard of. I am a third generation Willie fan now ….raising a forth. I would love to someday meet Willie, even if it were just to sit a while and listen to him tell a story. I support his ideals and I see him as a pioneer for his generation. He has been so sucessful at bringing so many people together. He’s an amazing individual. One day…...maybe it’ll be “up there.” Who knows?