Fifty-Eight
This is the “Speech” I had written for the show last
Saturday night. Though I only used a small
portion of it during an intro for the song “Time won’t let me,” the entire text
is within. I hope you enjoy or at least consider
it… in its totality.
(Saturday, June 17 2017)
I woke up this morning and realized that this would be the very last day
I would ever be 57 years old. Tomorrow
morning, approximately 4:44 am would be 58 years a human on this earth. You could certainly say that today I’m on the
edge of 58.
Now, I’m sure you’ve heard of the song “the edge of 17,” by Stevie
Nicks. Well, the gulf between the edge
of 17 and 58 is a rather large one. So
many things have changed from then until now.
So many technology advances… think about it.
There was no internet, no cell phones, no “Amber alerts,” no
Amazon… not even Super Walmart’s. No
cable television… no Netflix, no global
warming, not even unleaded gas. There
was only a few fast food places… In
Reedsburg, there was “Dairy King” and “A&W”… The Reedsburg Café and very greasy beer
battered fish and chocolate shakes at the Reedsburg Bowling Lanes.
The thing is, when I was on the edge of 17, I was playing in
LaValle, Wisconsin in a rock n’ roll band with a guitar in my hand. Now, on the edge of 58, I’m playing in
LaValle, Wisconsin in a rock n’ roll band with a guitar in my hand. This leads me to only one conclusion…
I am a time-traveler from another era….
This I am certain of.
This is the only logical explanation….
It’s hard for me to believe that time as slipped away so
quickly. I’ve heard it goes like this,
but I always sort of didn’t believe it.
The days zoom by… weeks, months and then years. Before you know it, you’re considering where
to put your “plot” and companies are gleefully sending you “life insurance
policies” to make sure your loved ones are not burdened by your funeral
expenses…
Excuse me? Fuck
you!
I’m not done living yet.
I still have my dreams, thank you very much!
I’m still hoping that maybe.. just maybe… someone might take
notice of the guy from Wisconsin that wrote that very heartfelt novel… or maybe
spun that thought-provoking song. I have
so many great ideas still dancing in my head…
Even more than that, I’m hoping someone will find the will
to love such a lost soul as myself… and maybe spend some of the time we might
still have together. I’m sure so ready
for that.
58. Not a curse, but
perhaps a hasten…
