Thank You
Tommy Alverson and Michael Hearne close out the first night of Waltstock and Barrel, 2021.
One of the nicest things that can happen is to have someone want to make your acquaintance, to say hello I’ve always wanted to meet you. This is particularly true when it happens because of something you’ve done, which in my case lately is wander through the Oxford English Dictionary picking up words and making stories out of them about things I’ve seen and experienced. It doesn’t seem all that remarkable, but apparently people like it.
This weekend I’ve met several nice folks I’ve only known through social media and their comments as I write. It’s been really fun putting faces to names and being introduced to significant others. I hope I’ve been as generous with my replies as they have been in making the effort to seek me out. After all, in their own lives they are doing impactful things, like teaching, gardening, working, raising families, making the world a better place, things that deserve respect. And now that I think about it, I probably should have been more proactive on my part and sought them out sooner. That’s something to work on, but the upside means as we all keep going down the road, we’ll have lots to talk about.
And I know we’ll be together again, because we have something in common which is the music and the friendship of Walt Wilkins, whose music festival, Waltstock and Barrel, we’re attending this weekend. He’s the poster child for how a talented person, or any person for that matter, should behave. And that apparently started in childhood because I had a nice visit yesterday with a bandmate of his when they were teenagers. Walt acknowledges people, remembers them, brags on them, and invites them and their friends to his parties. He probably would have had a great career no matter what career he chose, but I’m glad he picked music. He’s certainly made my life better, by sharing his songs, time, compliments, and a pot load of friends; I just have to make sure I pay it forward. And that will keep me young, something to work on.
John W. Wilson is the author of The Long Goodbye: A Caregiver’s Tale