This post was written on November 5th 2023. I was waiting for a photo of Danny and Brent’s wedding to include and then forgot….
In the past 2 weeks, we were present for the unexpected death of Craig’s best friend, James Peters and joyful wedding of Danny and Brent. I had the incredible privilege of being Danny’s Best Person and walked him down the aisle at sunset last night. Such a joyful celebration. Danny’s 3 kids, Emma (13), Eli (12) and Everett Fox (7) each had a role in the ceremony. Eli and Fox got up to the microphone and made some special comments and Emma sang them a song. The pastor gave such a warm and personal message as a part of the ceremony that I was a bit overwhelmed. It truly was the perfect celebration of life and love.
Craig and his friend James have made music together for the past 30 years and have been there for the highs and lows in each other lives. James had a massive hemorrhagic stroke last Tuesday while we were on a week long road trip visiting friends and seeing the fall colors. When we found out, we immediately drove back to Nashville and spent 24 hours in the hospital with James and his wife. The stroke was not survivable and there are now 2 people with kidneys and numerous other lives that will be positively impacted by his organ and tissue donation.
This 24 hour in-hospital experience was do dramatically different from anything I have ever experienced and it gave me hope, The quality of the care was phenomenal, particularly the nursing staff.at TriStar Centennial Medical Center in Nashville. The nurses never seemed to be rushed and were attentive to James, his wife and Craig and I. The support for the process of organ donation was also amazing. James’ wife was presented with a organ donation medallion and will receive a pendant with James finger print. When it came time to take James to the OR for the organ harvest, a special sheet identifying him as an organ donor was placed over him and the hallway to the OR was lined by hospital personnel paying tribute as he was wheeled by. It was all very meaningful for his wife.
Present time – I feel so fortunate that I had the opportunity to see James and Craig make music together 3 times before he died – the last time just 10 days before his stroke. James was only 65 but was a smoker and had already survived on stroke. After the first stroke, he did not have the dexterity for the fingering on his guitar that he was used to so he learned to play the steel guitar. From my perspective he still played his guitar beautifully. Craig is now back to picking up his guitar and playing a few times a week but it is not the same….
I am going to take some lessons on bass guitar so see if I can learn enough to play with Craig on at least a few songs. I write this to hold myself accountable to my commitment. I am not sure I have the ability that Craig feels sure that I have.
Tamara Unleashed 