We’re here. Gruene. We want to be there. Red River New Mexico. We are gathered together in the name of music. Bags are packed. We’re ready to go. Nearly. Weather is the issue. I’m up early with no say in the matter. I’m neither a driver nor navigator nor in any position of authority to kick off the drive. Yeah, I say. There are other’s more experienced than I to do that thinking. So, now I wait.

This is my second foray north and west to the mountains and the music. It was a life saver last year. I was a year and a half into grieving for my late wife. Red River let me know that there might be more tomorrows that I could enjoy. Turns out there are. I still struggle on occasion, but by and large I have managed to pick up my feet, turn my face to the sun, and keep moving.

Of course, people are still dying all around me, but that is the essence of life and the only certainty. The trick is one that soldiers use, accept death, and do everything you can to live. I’m trying. Which is why I am on my way today, I hope. And as I write I hear footfalls on the floors above me as the other early rise us up and ready to make coffee and get this merry band of travelers on the road.

John W. Wilson is the author of The Long Goodbye: A Caregiver's Tale