Two Days

Blew out of work early on Friday afternoon. Drove down to my brother Ed's place to see Buddy Guy.

Buddy Guy is a venerable, 78 year old blues dude who rocks like a kid.

Sat around Ed's apartment for a bit, then took off to meet two of his buddies at a restaurant in Lynn.

I have always said that quality attracts quality. Ed is quality, so I know that I will be comfortable hanging out with anyone he calls friend.

I was.

We had a couple of drinks and scarfed down some apps because we were running late and did not have time for big, juicy T-Bone steaks.

Motored over to the concert and proceeded to lose our minds. Buddy had a fifteen year old kid opening for him - Quinn Sullivan - who played like he was on fire. Jaw dropping, unbelievable riffs and solos. His fingers flew and that guitar screamed.

And he could sing. He sang the blues like he had the blues. Absolutely amazing.

As soon as I'm done torturing you with my words I am going over to Amazon to buy one of his CD's.

Then there was Buddy Guy.

Buddy is blues royalty. As a session guitarist for Chess Records he played with Muddy Waters, Howlin' Wolf, and Little Walter. He recorded many times with Junior Wells.

He has a truly rockin' blues style and is generally believed to be the bridge between the blues and rock 'n roll. Between the old blues masters and people like Clapton, Jeff Beck, Jimmy Page, Jimi Hendrix and Stevie Ray Vaughn.

He was magnificent. Towards the end of the show he brought Quinn Sullivan back onstage with him. I'm surprised the building is still standing.

The night was magic.

Spent the night at Ed's. We had breakfast together and talked. I cherish these talks. Brother to brother, pure honesty, respect and love. Now that we are becoming old warriors we talk about life a lot.

The conversations are made meaningful by our combined 120 years on this planet. Ed has a way of calming my spirit with his perspective, his never give up attitude, his sensitivity and intelligence, his wicked sense of humor. I bask in the respect others show him, as his two friends did Friday night.

The morning existed in deep, quiet contrast to the amazing, crazy night that preceded it. As I drove home I felt at peace. I suddenly realized that I always feel this way when I get to spend one on one time with my brother.

That means a lot to me.

I drove home to Carol and immediately felt the love and comfort she gives to me. I was gone one night and I missed her.

Half an hour later we were on the road to Maine to visit Sarge and Cori. Sarge is fighting cancer hard, but it is a difficult struggle. He was having a bad day yesterday.

He's been dealing with constant headaches for a few days now. He was very uncomfortable. Kept running his hand over his head trying to find some relief. He was distant and out of it. Sometimes we would say something to him and he would stare at us blankly and say nothing.

Still, as bad as he felt, every once in a while the Sarge spirit would surface and he would say something to make us laugh.

Cori is so attentive to him. Sarge was restless and in pain and she sat by his side and talked to him soothingly, and asked him leading questions trying to find ways to comfort him.

I stood overwhelmed by this definition of love that was being expressed right in front of my eyes. Cori keeps a cot in his room and sleeps there at night. She gets up at 4:30, goes home to shower etc and is back to work at 5:30. She works in the rehab place where Sarge is staying.

Her work day is often interrupted by calls for her to help Sarge out or calm him down. When her work day is over she stays by his side.

I watched them look into each other's eyes. I felt a love so strong, and two spirits so strong, it felt like I had no right to be there.

Recently, Cori brought Sarge's cat, Newman, to visit him. Newman is a holy terror but he and Sarge share nothing but love. The visit did him good.

When Cori reminded him of the visit, Sarge got confused and started calling Newman's name, thinking he was there then.

Sarge got restless and decided he wanted to bop about in his wheelchair. He is not mobile right now and has to be lifted out of bed by motorized harness. We left the room to stay out of the way.

Eventually the attendant wheeled him down the hall and I took over from there. Cori and Carol walked as I wheeled Sarge around the joint.

That was tough for me. This guy who I have partied with countless times, this guy I have laughed and cried with, this guy who I have shared so many intimate conversations with, this guy who is my loving wife's brother; this guy was in a wheelchair and I was moving him around.

We left shortly after that. It was a tough visit. Especially for Carol.

Carol decided she wanted to drive down the road to Old Orchard Beach, a place that means a lot to us. Everything was closed, it was cold, it was dark.

We walked onto the beach and immediately reminisced and laughed about a visit years ago when we walked the same spot with Cori and Sarge on a cold winter's night. Complete with howling wind and pounding surf.

I kissed Carol as we stood on the stand. Told her I love her. It wasn't planned, it just came up out of my soul and my heart. This woman who was standing by my side, this woman who has always stood by my side, this woman who will always be by my side.

This woman I cannot live without.

We drove home to a peaceful night in front of the TV.

Lakota woke me up this morning at 6:30. Jumped up next to me and gently pawed my face. Tears started streaming down my face as I tried like hell not to wake Carol up. My first thought was how much Sarge would love Newman to wake him up like this every morning. How much Sarge deserves a simple pleasure like that.

So much emotion experienced in two short days.

The high of amazing music, the contentment of spending time with my brother, missing my wife and feeling soul deep love coming home to her, a tough visit with Sarge spiced with glimpses of his relentless spirit, the love and tenderness between Cori and Sarge, a kiss on a Maine beach in November, a peaceful night at home, the magic morning of a pet.

That was an electric jolt of life in its purest form. Highs, lows, happiness, tears, love, and respect.

Depth and meaning and perspective.