Roger had turned his life around in the past few years, living alone without an abusive partner/family members, working at a radio production job he loved with a great company of folks. He'd fixed up his mando and was making music with some neat people in the Portland, OR area and was so happy. He'd also connected with a church, was on the board, had prayer partners and was a force of light for many who attended.

Before moving back to Portland, he lost everything in Alabama; left with just his car, a few pieces of clothing, his cat and bird. Left behind a lifetime's collection of rare music 78s, books, etc. It was his life or his things as things played out there. He took a step out in faith, drove cross country with the good will of folks along the way, a few dollars from friends as they were able and finally made it. He faced rejection by his family and let it go, making his friends his family as he moved through life. I will try not to bitter when I say his family just gave the ex carte blanche to take all of his things that he did have ...laptop, cell phone, etc. The only things I really care about are his cats, Timmy, Cassy, and Toby the bird. We are trying to get them taken care of.

The one thing I really regret at the moment, is never getting him to put all of his memories on tape, esp. his memories of the music world. He had so many anecdotes of music people he'd either interviewed or known. I'll ask the other friends by email if they have anything written down that he might of shared. My Rog has a couple of stories, I know, music-related.

Thanks for listening,

kat