August 2012

Happy Full Blue Moon!

When I did my Google search for the Indian meaning for the blue moon I came across this one which is so different from the ones I usually use…as I read it I thought…well..maybe people want a change of pace so let’s give a different perspective on second Full Moon this month!

The Blue Moon in Pisces on Friday. It is called a Blue Moon because it will be our second Full Moon of the month! (from US perspective) The Sun in Virgo brings the energies of service and healing and with the Full Moon in Pisces what seems to be emerging in people are feelings needing to be healed, old wounds being exposed and coming into our awareness so we can clear the energetic beliefs around our wounds!

Unfortunately for me, I know I will never, ever be able to stop missing John., no healing here.  I do forgive the people who killed him… no good comes from harboring hatred and John would be disappointed in us if we were all paralyzed by it.  We choose to honor him by doing the good things he was known for (although we know full well we don’t have the gift he had for touching people…but we do try)

As I have said before, John was very good at picking friends and I have another success story to tell about some of them! When John went to Syracuse he was in band was with a great and very talented group of kids..they had a several names…Sweaty Pants among them (you get the gist…freshman in college..what can I say) He played both guitar and drums…and I think he was so happy with the group because they encouraged him to try out his music and were talented enough to actually preform  the songs that were in his head!  They played a lot of Frat parties. It didn’t take them long to figure that the frat boys did not really want or need additional men at the parties and playing music for them was a very good way to get their foot in the door and have some fun! John was way too inclusive to ever consider joining a frat but would never say no to a good party!!

I don’t know exactly why his friend Adam first decided that he needed to add a gimmick to the band but he did…I remember John telling me that he was serving waffles at the events they played…I don’t even remember if John was still in the band at that time…but I clearly remember how impressed John was with the idea…and how excited he was when Adam and Kyle wrote and were awarded a grant from the college to open a restaurant that would feature sweet and savory waffles! John just thought that was the coolest thing ever and was so proud of his friends!

The boys worked so hard to make “Funk and Waffles” a success and it is! This week, Guy Feri from the Food Network came to visit and is featuring them in an upcoming show!! (here is the clip of him talking to the local news about it :  http://www.9wsyr.com/mediacenter/local.aspx?videoid=3729720 ) It is unbelievable that a couple of kids could make a go of it in the highly competitive restaurant business …especially when they don’t have a liquor license! It is just plain incredible! Improbable!! But true!

I was thinking when I watched the video that John would be so proud…he was always happy for others while playing down his own accomplishments.  I really wished he was here so we could talk about it…it would be so much more fun to have him here to celebrate with. He would be on cloud nine!

This got me to thinking that I get so happy when great things happen to John’s friends.  I think this happens because I am able to imagine about how proud he would be of his friends and I also feel how lucky I am that they still stay in contact with me so I can live vicariously through them! I always thought that John’s music would be a hobby, never a way he could actually make money at… I mean who do you actually know anyone who makes it in that industry! I still have the contract from Virgin Atlantic that was to be signed two weeks after he died…something I think that he had trouble wrapping his head around too! But it was such a wonderful period in his life…so happy and hopeful. I love that other people (especially young kids) get to have accomplishments to be proud about…we don’t get nearly enough of them….Then I thought to myself…wouldn’t it be great if people could set aside jealously and be truly happy for others…when someone else gets a piece of good fortune we would celebrate with them… John was able to be so enthusiastic when his friends had something to rejoice about and it is part of the reason that people gravitated to him…so …that is what I am suggesting this month….just try to be happy when you hear good news about others and let them know that you celebrate their good fortune! 

August

Full Sturgeon Moon –The fishing tribes are given credit for the naming of this Moon, since sturgeon, a large fish of the Great Lakes and other major bodies of water, were most readily caught during this month. A few tribes knew it as the Full Red Moon because, as the Moon rises, it appears reddish through any sultry haze. It was also called the Green Corn Moon or Grain Moon.

Thank you to the Olympic Committee for choosing London for the site this year because without this I would have nothing to say this month (impossible to believe for those who know me but it is true)!

John always loved to travel because he found everything and everyone so interesting. I think that was one of the biggest selling points in his decision to join the band in the first place. He was smiling in almost every single picture taken of him while they traveled around the country.  He loved it so much that once he mentioned that he would love to travel to different regions and sample the foods… linking it to different kinds of beers (I know, that exact show is now on TV…he was always ahead of his time).

Clearly thought, the highlight of his career was when they went to London. I think that is when he realized that he was REALLY talented. In fact, when he was applying for his visa he asked me what he should write in the space provided for occupation. I suggested the obvious choice (musician) and he replied “Really?” When I told him that was what he was doing over there he quietly thought about it for a minute and I think it was the first time that he began to get where his life was going. This is probably why he was so loved by the people who came to see him…he never thought he was going to be a superstar; he was just the kid having fun….and people appreciated that about him.

We really wanted to go with him. My husband hates to fly but he was all for this trip. I researched hotels and flights but when we got John’s schedule we realized that we were only going to be able to spend one day together at most because they had to be back in NY to play almost immediately after the last show. I would have done it but the more I thought of it I decided that our presence may add a lot of stress to his trip. He was a kid who would have taken the time to be with us even if he had to loose sleep to do it…John wasn’t a good juggler of time so I just thought I should back off and let him have his own experience … I stupidly thought that there would be other trips to England …we would go next time when he had the lay of the land. I had to settle for his description of the trip…had to envision the sight when he told me that he had “goosebumbs” when he played at a club called Koko’s (Charlie Chaplin played there and I think he told me that it was the biggest venue they ever played) My heart broke when I found out that he didn’t go with the band to talk to record companies about the deals that they would get…he choose to tour London by himself…I couldn’t believe that he was all alone taking pictures of all the noteworthy sites! (Being a speech pathologist I have always enjoyed the family discussions that go with new experiences…almost cried that he was not able to do that because I know how much it adds to the trip) When he sat with us to show us the photos we all told him we were going next time so he had to make sure the booking agent left time at the end of the tour for US!  We really truly thought that would happen…that there would be TIME for that….

So, my message for you this month is to take the bulls by the horns when you can…experience everything offered to you in life.. especially when it involves people you love…because you have no guaranties. I have so much trouble looking at all the shots of London…wanting so much to remember what John would have said about it all…trying to recall every word he said about the trip…I KNOW I would have remembered better if I had been there with him…and I would give anything to have that memory.