Music Monday! Rush - The Garden - For My Brother

My Bro - he never stopped ROCKIN'

You can't mention the band Rush without me thinking of my older brother.

I would have never heard Rush if it hadn't been for my brother. I didn't listen to that type of music usually. But at home, it was all we heard from behind his closed door. "The musicians band", as I was told it was, I learned through my brother, and I learned to really enjoy actually.

Well that, and Led Zeppelin, Yes, Deep Purple, Boston, Black Sabbath etc. A far cry from the pop music a young tween girl normally listens to. I think of hearing music blasting from his bedroom when we were younger, door always closed, stereo always very loud. So loud it was like the door wasn't closed at all. It was the 80's, so all played on an old fashioned turn table and massive speakers that nearly took up his entire room.

And I certainly didn't appreciate it then, but honestly, I did learn a lot about music from my brother. Even if he didn't intentionally mean to teach me. And he certainly didn't strike up conversations about any of this. I guess you could say he was an introvert, and I can't say we had a real close bond. But I can say I learned to appreciate some great music, thanks to him. He expanded my musical world - and I bet he never knew that.

Loved the Bass

My brother unexpectedly passed away last week. It was a shock. Totally unexpected. He was 2 weeks from his 52nd birthday. 

What plagues me now is the 'I wanted to see him at least one more time' feelings. I would love to tell him how every time Tom Sawyer comes on the radio I think of him. How I know all the dang words to More Than A Feeling, all because of him. There are more things I want to tell him too. I want to even just let him know I loved him. It had been far too long since that simply sentiment was shared. And now I can't. That is the worst part.

All I can do now is celebrate my brother. He was a good guy. He was caring. He was smart. He had a great smile. He loved music - he was currently in TWO local Buffalo, NY bands on top of a full time computer job! Now in Darkness and Fatal Sting, he was in BOTH hard rocking bands that played regularly. 

Another thing I inadvertently learned from my brother - Gardening. He loved saving seeds and growing things. He was always growing something. He saved seeds of all kinds, meticulously keeping track of what kind of tomato seed this was, and what kind of corn that was. Mostly edible things he grew, far before it was 'cool' or trendy to have your own garden. He even had loads of seeds drying on his kitchen counter waiting to be planted this spring. 

(That is why I am so happy we found this great group to suggest donations in lieu of flowers - Grassroots Gardens Western New York - growing community gardens all over Buffalo and Niagara Falls. If you would like to dontate, they certainly appreciate it. They have some pretty awesome looking workshops too.)

I wish I knew him better actually. He was several years older than me, and we did have a tough time connecting, even in adulthood. But he was a great guy, that much I know of him. 

So here is his favorite band, with a fitting song, I think. 
He will be missed, but he will never be forgotten. 

How could he be forgotten when all I have to do is turn on the radio to think of him, or see my husband drying seeds on the counter (right now in fact) and not be reminded of my brother doing the same? 

"The Garden"

Rush

In this one of many possible worlds,

All for the best or some bizarre test?

It is what it is and whatever,

Time is still the infinite jest

The arrow flies when you dream,

The hours tick away,

The cells tick away

The Watchmaker keeps to his schemes,

The hours tick away, they tick away

The measure of a life is a measure of love and respect,

So hard to earn so easily burned

The measure of a life is a measure of love and respect,

So hard to earn so easily burned

In the fullness of time,

A garden to nurture and protect

In the rise and the set of the sun,

'Til the stars go spinning,

Spinning 'round the night

Oh, it is what it is, and forever

Each moment a memory in flight

The arrow flies while you breathe,

The hours tick away,

The cells tick away,

The Watchmaker has time up his sleeve,

The hours tick away, they tick away

The measure of a life is a measure of love and respect,

So hard to earn so easily burned

In the fullness of time,

A garden to nurture and protect

(It's a measure of a life)

The treasure of a life is a measure of love and respect,

The way you live, the gifts that you give

In the fullness of time,

It's the only return that you expect

The future disappears into memory

With only a moment between.

Forever dwells in that moment,

Hope is what remains to be seen.

Forever dwells in that moment,

Hope is what remains to be seen.

In the fullness of time,

A garden to nurture and protect

(It's a measure of a life)

In the fullness of time,

A garden to nurture and protect

(It's a measure of a life)

In the fullness of time,

A garden to nurture and protect

(It's a measure of a life)

In the fullness of time,

A garden to nurture and protect

(It's a measure of a life)

(It's a measure of a life)

(It's a measure of a life)

(It's a measure of a life)