Saturday, Donita and family honored Jim's memory with a party celebrating his life. Yeah, that's the way to do it. No church. No ceremony. No formality. Just opportunities for everyone to honor Jim in their way. Jim and Donita come from musical families, so there was lots of music.
Jim's bro and cousin ran things, along with Donita of course.
They encouraged people to tell Jim stories. Those of us who played instruments performed. Jim loved progressive rock, so I played "I've Seen All Good People/Your Move" by Yes on my uke (minus the "I've Seen All Good People" part. The afternoon was chilly and I had a hard time getting my fingers to move, but I got through it. Soon after, the Canaries joined me on stage and we did our Dylan repertoire, with Blowhard Canary on vocal and Billy C and I on ukes and harmonies. The youngster's voice is really becoming more confident. I think he will shape up to be a fine singer. I think he can hit lower low notes than his father.
Many other people sang and played including both sides of the family: with both TV's Kyle and the Jimmy Jammers (Jim's band with Do, daughter, and Daughter's boyfriend), Casual Sunday (Jim's band with Bro and Do), and various other musicians and singers Jim has performed with.
Jim's keyboard was missed in every sense of the word. But he would be so proud of his family. He was a guy for whom music was life.
Do and a friend sang this sea shanty that Jim used to play with them. It was beautiful and and brought tears to everyone's eyes. Wish I could remember the title. I know it was written in the early 20th century in the traditional way.
A lot of people I had known once as teenagers were there, looking to me more like their own parents.
People mingled. Some found their own corners to sit and mourn.
Jim, you were a much-loved man.
1 comment:
The song that Michele and I sang was The Grey Funnel Line. Jim used to play a mournful, deep, ship's horn, bass line underneath the vocals. I love singing this song.
Saturday was a perfect day. You're right, that is the way to do it. I kinda knew it would be that way. But it exceeded my expectations. People showed their love for Jim by giving what he gave.
Thank you, Canaries. Ah! Those voices.
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