Thank You Johnny

I prayed for you tonight really hard and I prayed really hard for Tony's health last night...I was on my knees both nights. Stay strong...God loves you!


Here's a little story about Keith Richards and his "Blind Angel"....

In 1979, the Rolling Stones played two concerts for the blind at the Civic Auditorium in Oshawa, Ontario. The shows were done in lieu of a jail sentence for guitarist Keith Richards, who was convicted of heroin possession in Toronto two years earlier.

A Stones fan from Quebec City, Rita Bedard, convinced Judge Lloyd Graburn to allow the band to play the benefit shows instead of jailing Richards. Richards referred to Bedard, who's legally blind, as "my Blind Angel," and although he forgot her real name over the years, managed to have his staff track her down in 1994 to invite her to a Stones concert in Toronto.


and in a performance at Montreal 2003....

Keith got a huge applause and had to interrupt and tell everyone, "hey, I've got a show to do!" laughing of course.... He did a brilliant "Slipping Away" very clear, heartfelt vocals...close to the studio version. The crowd gave him love all night. Keith dedicated it to "his blind angel, Rita....She knows", he said. ...The girl who helped bail him out with the judge in Toronto in '77. Rita was in attendance for the show.

After a thunderous welcome from the crowd when Mick introduced him, Keith quieted us all down and then made a very rare dedication as he peered through the lights to pick out 'Blind Angel, 'Rita'. He waved out in her direction and began to sing Slipping Away. It was electrifying, very emotional and beautifully played.

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I was at a meeting the other day, talking to my friend Hannah. An older women, she's just very jolly. She's such a good reader. Eloquent. She reminds me of santa clause. She wears this huge, russian-looking fur hat. I think this is why assumed she had money. She always asks me for rides to Pathmark after the meeting. Not sure what I assumed she was doing at Pathmark at 10 PM every night, but I never really thought of it. She was talking about some guy that pisses her off, and she mentions sort of peripherally that she was homeless. Shame on me, I thought. Shame on someone. Shame. Shame. Shame. I hugged her and she almost started crying. What does homelessness look like? Not her. Not her. There was nothing I could give her, excpet a ride. I don't have a penny to my name. There's nothing but white space in the refrigerator. Maybe a home for her dog, her best friend? I have a cat I can barely take care of. We waited outside for my friend who was driving. It was freezing and it felt like we were standing outside, waiting, forever. It was cold. She offered me a coat. I took it. It was the only gift I could give her.

"The first step is Love, the second, mercy"

Joe Connelly, Bringing Out The Dead