Three deaths in my circle in the past five weeks.
My friend, Charlie Tee, who I posted about here, died of Covid on December 18. Ten days later, Mike, one of my long-time choir buddies, died in his sleep from a heart attack. Late last night, another friend, Philip Paul, died from Covid and late-stage dementia at 96. He was still playing till just a couple months ago.
Hubster and I met Phil and his first wife, Juanita, in 2009. Pete’s best friend was involved in Phil getting an Ohio Heritage Award. We hung out with them at several events over the years. Even though Phil was in his 80s when we met, he was still buff and handsome and every bit a rock star. He and Juanita were so much fun. We loved every minute we spent with them. Thanks to Larry, Phil got a lot of late life recognition for his groundbreaking drumming on the big hits on King Records. After Juanita died, he reconnected with an old (over 50 years!) flame, and he became a newlywed at 90. His philosophy of life was, “Keep playin’ and keep livin’”.
Please keep Lynn, Deb, and Bobbie in your thoughts.
This is the night we met Phil and Juanita. Larry is playing bass. Later that night, Hubster and I packed up the two of them. Larry and his wife, and that bass in our Scion XB for a wild ride to their hotel in a thunderstorm. Hubster driving, Phil in the passenger seat with Juanita on his lap, giggling like teenagers, and Larry, his wife, and I in the back, wedged between the bass and the sides of the car.
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And the biggest record he played on, The Twist.
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