October 21, 2021

I’m Fine. Really. It was four weeks ago yesterday that I woke up in the recovery room at Crouse Hospital. As I collected my thoughts, I realized that I had survived the surgery. This was my second endarterectomy, so I had a pretty good idea of what lay ahead of me. BUT, I also knew what I had left behind. For most of the summer, I knew it was coming. I could feel the throbbing in my neck and the upcoming annual visit confirmed that it was time to clean out that left side carotid artery. Yup, it was urgent. I was walking on the edge of disaster.

There were no ICU beds at the hospital, so I spent the first 12 hours in the recovery room, then got shipped upstairs to a very busy floor. I’ve got stories. Enough about that. As I said, I’m fine. For now, please know that the nurses at Crouse were beyond amazing. Two days and I was back home at the lake. A much better environment to recover in.

The hardest part of recovery was waking up into a bad dream. Jeff Martin was gone. He succumbed to COVID. His bass silenced forever. Not long after that, we lost Leon Miller at a very young age. A heart attack at 45. Paul Case got COVID. He’s hurting, but VERY strong. John Liebing down with some serious health issues. Our CNY music community is very tight. I got to play with and hang with all of these guys. We shared the joy of music.

I ran into Lisa Hall today. Jeff’s Lisa. We talked about the tragedies in our lives, but also about the comfort we feel in our community. There is a lot of love here. There’s a benefit concert this weekend for Leon. And no one will ever forget the concert in honor of George Feltman. I was just getting home from the hospital, so I missed it, but thankfully, so many people uploaded videos, I could enjoy the camaraderie of our great musical community.

I am thankful. I feel blessed. I am back to work in the studio. Coming up on 60 years in the music business. Someday, I will come out and play again. I do miss you.