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Dan Fogelberg

I’ve been blogging off & on for years, have more recently opened up about my health (or lack thereof ~_^) & feel incomplete when my world isn’t as digital as it is physical yet I stopped updating this blog nearly three years ago. There were a number of practical reasons from repeated moving thus intermittent internet to a steady decrease in that so-called health of mine, yet losing my Grandma three years ago seems to be the real culprit. She taught me, amidst many other marvelous wonders & wisdom like “the dread is worse than the doing,” that people have more than one soulmate; we were each lucky enough to have married ours while also having another in each other — our husbands’ souls being complementary whereas our own mirrored the other’s. I’ll always miss her but, as Dan Fogelberg might say, “I am her living legacy.”

HAWMC: Day 1 – Health Time Capsule. Pretend you're making a time capsule of you & your health focus that won't be opened until 2112. What's in it? What would people think of it when  they  found  it?Speaking of legacies, I’ve been challenged by WEGO Health to consider what my own might be. April is Health Activist Writer’s Month at WEGO — a month dedicated to the art of writing… about health — & they’re hosting a Health Activist Writer’s Month Challenge (#HAWMC) with a writing prompt for each day of the month. If not only I but my health were memorialized, there would be purple & prose & poetry & perspectives that would seem more than just passe but downright preposterous. “What wit,” they would say, “what wisdom — no doubt thanx to these loved ones she’s commemorated — but wait; what’s this? Why would anyone have to go without healthcare?! How did she stay so positive despite so very much pain??”

As those who open my Health Time Capsule in 100 years get caught up in a collection of my favorite things, from a coffee press to the moonstones from my favorite beach, they find themselves longing for such simple pleasures as a picture forms of someone who makes the most of each moment. Then, reading thru my blogs & books, they discover that the simplicity of my life was a joy but not a choice. The more keepsakes, writings & pictures those future kindred spirits peruse; the more they understand the choice I did make, to enjoy. Each new item expressing my limitations either includes or is closely followed by an expression of appreciation for what couldn’t be limited. In the end, it will be my trusty sidekick, Chester C. Cane, that exemplifies my seemingly contradictory existence for the very need of a cane not only pronounces me disabled but announces my disability for all to see — making my illness less invisible. There again, a potential negative proves to be positive. Just as a cane has its own limitations but helps me better cope with mine, my legacy may be shaped by all I can’t do but will be filled with all the more appreciation for what I can.

Health Activist Writer’s Month Challenge

Dorian aka coffeesister <3 & |_|)

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The leader of the band has died & my eyes are crying still, but his words run through my varied thoughts & his song is in my soul.. My life has been much better for the music of this man; he was a living legacy & still leader of the band.

The leader of the band is tired
And his eyes are growing old
But his blood runs through my instrument
And his song is in my soul –
My life has been a poor attempt
To imitate the man
I’m just a living legacy
To the leader of the band.

~ Leader of the Band ~

Although the song my heartfelt words are based on is about his father, Dan Fogelberg picked up where his father left off & absolutely was the living legacy any musician could hope for. Moreover, he was a poet; honest & direct, offering words that reflected what we’ve all been through. By keeping his songs alive in our hearts & minds, we will in turn take the next watch. To further continue his legacy, may no-one else die of Prostate Cancer.

It’s the chance of a lifetime
In a lifetime of chance
And it’s high time you joined
In the dance

~ Run for the Roses ~

He had reminded us that life’s fleeting & urged us to make the most of the time we have. He led that charge by example, giving his words added meaning. My Granddad, who just miraculously & ever so thankfully turned 88 a couple months ago, is a survivor of Prostate Cancer. To add insult to the injury of losing Dan to something essentially treatable, he was merely the same age as my mom!?

Love when you can
Cry when you have to
Be who you must
That’s a part of the plan

~ Part of the Plan ~

He became a part of my own being right in the middle of my high school years, of all times. As a punk, alcoholic, habitual runaway; there was little connecting me to the parental unit. Coffee was just about the only common ground left with Momma & I’d certainly never had much in common with her husband. The only thing we all agreed on was some of their music, which is to say Dan Fogelberg.

Dan Fogelberg

What we really want
You know we rarely say
Such is the language of love.

~ The Language of Love ~

They each offered me worthwhile vinyl — No age cracks lest you sound like a broken record. :wink: — to peruse. I had always shared John Denver & a plethora of 60′s options with Momma while I agreed with David (That’s his name, not to be confused with my Dave.) on the likes of Blood, Sweat & Tears. The Eagles were equally enjoyed by all three of us but nothing compared to Dan on this front for we were all actually moved by him.

Our words don’t ever seem to
Say enough
But a simple smile
A tender touch
Speaks the true language of love.

~ The Language of Love ~

Music is recognized as the universal language. Given the separate universes family members take refuge in, music can become both the only language left & the bridge to any other. It wasn’t a generation gap needing bridging but one of resentment thus only Dan’s truly human sentiments could do so. In the midst of his lyrics, each of us singing despite ourselves, we were one. Truth be told, even though Momma & I emerged stronger, Dan Fogelberg may well be the only thing David & I really agree on; especially his song to my mom:

Longer than there’ve been fishes in the ocean
Higher than any bird ever flew
Longer than there’ve been stars up in the heavens
I’ve been in love with you.

~ Longer ~

Dan’s departure from this world does feel like a personal loss yet there’s so much he’ll continue to give me; it hardly seems fair. What I can’t imagine, by the grace of God, is what his family is going through. They’re being notified of the donations made in his memory to fight the cancer that took him & there’s a site to share our condolences. Surely the ongoing feedback prolongs the hurt even while easing the pain. That which offers meaning though is never black or white; nothing ultimately is & he understood that.

Oh, If I had you beside me
Then I just might sleep through the night
Your love is the promise that guides me
All of the days of my life.

~ Missing You ~

I’m out of words for now but not out of tears. Yet, like so many times before, he speaks for me.

(|_|*cheers*|_|)
I have cried too long
No more sorrow
Got to carry on.

~ Phoenix ~

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