Thursday, September 12, 2013

A Doctorate

Yes, I hold a doctorate..... in life. School of hard knocks. Lessons learned. A+ Student. 

John Illsely and I used to joke about this. His father worked for the U.N. His mother,  prior to her passing worked at the American Embassy in Egypt. John was born in Colorado,  but was raised in the Middle east. He spoke most of the dialects of the Arabic language. All of my Arab friends  did not believe he was not from there. 

John was an amazing man, he lived his life to the fullest. During the years we hung out together, I learned so much from him. He did not hold a degree, not to my knowledge, not when we ran together. At the time he was living in Everett Washington, and we were on the music scene in a big way. He had a small apartment down the road from our local watering hole, as did I. We went everywhere together. 

A lot of the local bands played top 40 covers, and the bar's were hopping back then. John liked to dance so he taught me how. We did salsa, swing, and interpretive when we were out, to any music that played. Top 40, heavy metal, rock... and more. 

But, most of what he taught me, was perspective. To listen to words, not to interpret your own meaning, but to listen to actually what was being said. The definition of the words themselves, and when put into sentences to understand the context. 

My life has been in a constant swift motion of learning from everything that I have gone through. I always go back to what John taught me. Listen.  Listen to what your life is telling you, listen to the context of the moment, listen to your heart. 

Well John, I have done that. School of hard knocks, and I have my Doctorate now. 

Here's to you my dear friend, brother of my heart. ارقد بسلام يا صديقي العزيز urqud bi salam ya sadeeqi al aziz

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