Topic: Another side to being a Joe fan
Friends, please indulge me while I convey a rather sad but uplifting tale, which will undoubtedly warm the hearts of Bonamassa fans and, if he sees this, Joe too. It's a tale I could never ordinarily tell, owing to confidentiality rules, but I'm honoured to have the opportunity on this occasion.
I am a Doctor and have recently been treating a patient with a chronic and worsening condition. His disease had reached a critical stage and there was no hope he would survive. He was a soft-spoken, middle-aged man with family circumstances that rendered him alone at his time of greatest need. It was the saddest of tales, truly heart-breaking. I went about my work with the usual care, respect and diligence we extend to all patients, and, it must be said, the usual dispassionate, objective approach that protects my sanity and keeps my judgement clear (one hopes).
About a week and a half ago, I examined the man, let's call him John, and asked him some questions about his symptoms. When he replied 'some decent music would help, it would take my mind off it', we got talking and quickly found common ground. John was an accomplished guitarist with over 2000 bar gigs under his belt. From what I've since been told, he had some impressive blues chops and was highly regarded by his peers.
Our conversation rambled longer than my schedule really allowed, but I couldn't help but be drawn in. It was some hours later, when I revisited him, that we found a common appreciation for our very own Joe Bonamassa. His appreciation and understanding of what Joe is about ran as deep as my own and I felt an immediate affinity with him because of it. He regarded Joe as not only the great musician we know him to be, but a man of integrity, whose sincerity towards his fans was genuine and plain to see. He felt Joe was one of us - a music fan, a gear-geek, an ordinary guy with hard-earned, well deserved success. Who could argue with those sentiments?
Around my shifts, I spent as much time with John as I could, chatting about music and scouring Joe's back-catalogue, pausing songs as we went to pick out the finer points. We talked about the times in our lives that Joe's songs took us back to and the images his music conjured up for us. I'm quite a reserved person, so I'd never experienced such a deep, meaningful conversation about something as personal as music.
I of course have access to the best therapies and medication money can buy, and I did my best to make John's last days as comfortable as they could be. But I observed first-hand the positive effect Joe's music had on John's state of mind. He visibly drew strength from it and my simple act of loaning him my iPod and DVD player, with unadulterated access to pretty much everything Joe has ever released, was probably more beneficial than anything else I, or my colleagues did for him.
John passed away late last night. It was as dignified and peaceful an end as any of us would want and I know he felt a connection with me through our mutual love of all that's classic rock, blues.....and Joe Bonamassa. So he was by no means alone. John didn't have the level of literacy to contribute to a forum like this, but he loved the idea of connecting with JB fans around the world and cursed his missed opportunity. On his behalf, this is a little piece of his story. After a very long and emotional weekend, I now feel satisfied and happy with my excitable children, a big bowl of soup.....and The Borderline (well what else would I do, I'm a dyed-in-the-wool fanatic).
Thanks for the catharsis!
