Wednesday, June 6, 2012

My only friend the end....


"This is the end
Beautiful friend
This is the end
My only friend, the end

Of our elaborate plans, the end
Of everything that stands, the end
No safety or surprise, the end
I'll never look into your eyes...again..."

Jim Morrison sang the words as the Doors played.  John loved the Doors.  If you were with John, you were listening to the Doors.  Up until meeting John, I was not a big fan of the Doors.  Or Led Zeppelin.  Or the Beatles.  but Frank Guzzardi was the reason I couldn't listen to Zeppelin and WPLR was the reason I didn't like the Beatles.  I liked John so I started to like The Doors. (I've since grown to appreciate the Beatles, still working on Zep, but at least I don't change the radio when it comes on any more). 

On a weeknight in 1991, around dinner time, my mom answered the phone, then told me I had a call.  My life was about to be rocked.  On the other end of the phone John's mom told me that John was dead.  There had been a car accident while John was vacationing with a friend.  I remember her voice was very calm and I understood every word she said.  The call was brief.  My parents immediately knew what was wrong based on my side of the conversation they had heard.  I hung up the phone and started to cry.  I grabbed my car keys for the Challenger and walked out.  I drove to Deer Valley Airport in Phoenix which is a small municipal airport and watched planes for hours while I listed to the Doors cassette tape John had made for me. 



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