Dear Neil,
We met several years ago at a Virgin Record’s store after a mini concert for Tennessee Moon. I told you a story how your music from Jonathan Livingston Seagull helped me to fight through a life threatening illness as a child and how it took me 20 years to say thank you.
Now I have another reason to thank you. My mom who loved your music as much as I do suffers now from Alzheimer’s disease. The past few years she found little joy except in her video games and your music. And when you came to town, I would always take her to see your concert and for a little while, she would remember loving your music, dance and forget what was happening to her.
Now, mom is in a nursing home. I took your new DVD and a mini player to her room and played it for her. She was able to watch for a little while and smiled with some forgotten memory of the music and enjoyed some of the songs.
She isn’t always “present” when I visit her and sometimes seems to be somebody else as the disease progresses, but seeing her smile when watching your DVD let us both remember happier times even if only for a moment.
So another thank you is due you from me. Thank you for being such a stable constant in our lives and once again I will say to you what I said when we met. I hope that one day someone will give to you, what you gave to me, and now my mother.
With love always,
Deanna Dube’