Leader of the Band

Being born in 1976, Dan Fogelberg was at the height of his popularity when I was a little kid. From a very early age, I remember his song "Leader of the Band," and I also remember associating it with my grandfather, who was a musician.

Calling him a musician doesn't really even cut it. Music was his everything. It surrounded him in every facet of his life. He played saxophone from age 4. He played in the army. He played in every type of band you could imagine. He taught music. He sold instruments to schools. Eventually, he fulfilled the lifelong dream of owning his own music store.

One of the things I will always remember most about him was his ability to whistle entire jazz ensemble pieces, all by himself. I can't do it justice with words. It was the most amazing thing I've ever heard, and he did it all the time, often without even realizing he was doing it.

He also loved the water. He lived near the ocean and always had boats. One of our favorite activities as kids was going out in Boppie's boats. We fished and swam off his boats. We ate the steamers and muscles he caught.

He lived a long, amazing, rollercoaster of a life. He fathered the most amazing person I've ever known (my Mom). He found true love in his second marriage, to my mother's stepmother, who was the only grandmother we knew growing up, as his first wife passed away in 1971.

Although he was a hypochondriac (I didn't get it form the green grass, people) and had been telling me since around 1994 that, "I could go any time, you know," he was always a hale and hearty guy. He was active and kept a strict, healthy diet (aside from the occasional apple cider donut from The Big Apple). So, when his health began to decline, it did so fairly rapidly. I think for him, the loss of independence was as damaging as age.

And so, at the age of 94, he left us yesterday.

I will always remember riding in his van (a cargo van, not really meant for transporting children...but it was the 80's, you know), listening to him whistling, smelling the salt air.

And whenever a song moves me in a really profound way, which is often, I'll remember where I got that from.  After all, "I am a living legacy to the leader of the band."