Not to be a sad tale... rather, a happy memory.

Mike and I grew up together... almost from birth. K thru HS, same class. His Dad was a farmer, so was mine. We both ventured out from home, exploring other things for a few years, then returned home to take over our respective farms. Thus we lived out our days.

Mike and I fell in love with band in the 4th grade... he a drummer and me a trumpet player. Each of us also struck out on our own during our band years.... he on steel guitar and me on drums. Mike and I played in our first band together.... only my joining up with Uncle Sam separating us. Mike played in Vegas for a short time.... I started another band. Mike returned from Vegas and begin his own band. Thru the years he would fill-in for me occasionally, when I couldn't make a gig, and I'd do the same for him.

Mike passed away in 2014, lung cancer. I wrote and read his eulogy.

So that's just a quick summary... last week his widow calls me and wants to sell all his drum equipment. She had a stroke a few years ago and while she's doing well it did leave her with some lasting problems... speech, memory loss.... takes her time to think of her "words". She wanted my help because she told me that lately with her being a widow and her disabilities some people were taking advantage of her... when it came to money matters, and some other things. I was more than happy to help. So yesterday....

i went to inventory and photograph Mike's drum gear that his wife had gathered together into her garage. I'm not a used drum expert and informed her of that... promising only to my best. I had only just begun when I was literally sucked into a time warp:

First thing I noticed was his old Rodgers drums.... the drums he played when we played together in the mid-60's...I didn't know he still had them. That reminded me of some stories, several of them, from those long ago years... which I told to his wife. An old 22" ride cymbal lie nearby.... "Lillia, I remember when he bought this cymbal. I helped him pick it out".... two old Hi-Hats... I knew them, like an old friend, and more stories. Bass drum pedals, more cymbals (lots of them), some Slingerland hardware, drum dampeners and wood blocks and cow bells and on and on and on and on and on. And I knew nearly all of them. I was not expecting that. Story after story after story... all of which I told Lillia... until....

I realized what I was doing and apologized, "Sorry Lillia. Lot of old memories, didn't mean to bore you to death". "Not at all, Jimmy", she replied, "you made my day".

After inventory, and taking photos, I went inside... we had some hot tea and we talked about Mike. Some tears, but not many.... mostly a lot of smiles and not infrequently some hearty laughter. All in all I was there for perhaps an hour and a half...... and I can honestly say - one of the best 1.5 hours I've had in my life. - JamesJM