For my American friends, this thread has become a Weekly Reader. (If you remember that little newspaper from grade school.) It's kinda nice to pop in every now and then and see how folks are doing.

Yesterday, Ruth and I had a wonderful time. And a very sad one, too.
Not at the same time. Wonderful first.

There's a chain of restaurants opening up called Route 21 (or is it 22?) They book live music and had a Doo Wop Barbeque yesterday afternoon with our friends, The Sentinels. We drove down to hear the guys, and Joe ans Frankie from the Gospel Messengers met us there. Actually, Joe and Frankie got there before noon, before the music even started. We pulled in about 1, and caught the last part of the last song of one of their sets, and settled in at a tble near the front and ordered our food (not barbeque.) After that, The Sentinels did two sets, with breaks, and then asked Joe, Frankie and I to come up. We sang with Ken and Joe from the Sentinels, who helped us at our 10th Anniversary. None of us knew how the audience would respond, because we were doing gospel to an audience who came to hear doo wop. We did three songs .. Joe Evans leading two, and Frankie and Joe Tedesco from the Sentinels doing a duet on Just A Closer Walk With Thee. The really went wild for Joe Evan's leads... even more enthusiastic than they were for any of the Sentinels songs.
It was a lot of fun... just relaxed and singing for the joy of singing. We actually sounded better than we did at our Anniversary, in part because Joe Tedesco and Ken from the Sentinels were in familiar territory, surrounded by friends. Neither of them are church-goers, so they looked a little uneasy for our Anniversary.

After we sang, Ruth and I went to visti Joe Evan's wife, Corrie. Corrie was one of the original "Messengerettes," and traveled everywhere with us, for many years. She has Alzheimer's now and is in a health care center. When we came in to see her, she had no idea who we were, and she was in some other world. It was really heartbreaking to see her that way. She was always quick-witted and energetic. Now, she seems dazed, and just sat there, picking at her clothes, not responding to our conversation in any coherent way. Joe has carried a heavy burden, always being there for her. The Messengerettes had dwindled down to Ruth, most of the time. Our tenor Derrick's wife Viviene came to almost every concert as was very enthusiastic and supportive, but the moved to FLorida two years lago. Frankie's Mary comes very infrequently, and Corrie is in the health care center. Of our two new members, Joe Tedesco's wife doesn't normally come, and Ken is recently divorced.

But, Ruth is enough. I have never sung with the Gospel Messengers when she wasn't there, including the very first time we sang, more than ten years ago.

That's the kind of love you can't but.

Jerry

So, what's going on in your neck of the woods?