My stepfather died last week from complications associated with Alzheimers just a few days before reaching his 84th birthday. Two years ago I asked him to play some songs on the fiddle even though his hands were inflexible from arthritis, he had not played much in years, and his mind was basically gone from what it once was. He played "Corinna, Corinna" and "I Got That Old Fashioned Love in My Heart", 2 songs that Bob Wills made popular with his western swing band. I had only heard my stepfather play those songs once, many years before when I asked him to play them. I asked him again to play those tunes 2 months ago while visiting him. He was so weak and confused, even on a good day for him, that he could bearly scratch out "Corinna" and "Old Fashioned Love". He did, however, still remember them 2 months before his death

It was obvious that he retained those tunes in his mind even though he often said he could not remember how to play or did not know how to play the fiddle when asked to do so. However, once he had a fiddle in his hands he would immediatley start doodling out tunes.

His fiddles will now be mine and as think ahead I dread the prospect that I will suffer the same fate...

Cruiser