Django Passed Away Last Night

[Gannon]

I told you the first rule about Sob Club...


I would've been right there with ya if I hadn't used up my tears over the weekend. And every time I had to tell anyone about him since. And every time I try to get anything done.


What an amazing room full of love. Damnit, I went in feeling alienated and a bit cold, maybe somewhat relieved that there was one less person on the Earth I had to care whether they were alive or not.

Now there are at least fifty MORE people on that otherwise dwindling list. His family is now my family. Those he loved who shared their grief immediately non-strangers.


The stripper setup story, I gotta tell.

Matt's straight-laced pilot brother ran out for some food in the mid-afternoon for the family, so they wouldn't have to face the unknown crowd hungry.

His sister had mentioned something about Matt's desire to have "strippers and blow" at his funeral on Facebook a few days ago, but I demurely declined..."I'm not your guy for that, the one stripper I knew moved to Hawai'i."

So, this afternoon, the first stoplight pilot-bro hits, he gets stuck behind someone with a bumpersticker on it that read, "If you need a stripper, call..." So he did.

And we got strippers for Matt's funeral.

For the record, I never saw any blow. Any kind.


Another story from his brother...who previously lived in San Francisco. He was walking down by one of the piers and noticed a young fellow stacking rocks. He approached the guy and said something like, "I haven't seen anyone stacking rocks besides my brother" and the kid replied "Perhaps if your brother's name is Matt Davis..."

It rocked his world, here he'd been following all the rules, keeping a life worthy of maintaining a commercial pilot's license...and his junkie brother's reputation beats him across the country! It totally changed his viewpoint on the power of art...



Much love to everyone suffering this loss out there...Django was loved by many who came together tonight and celebrated his life. Every dingy and hopeful and beauty-seeking piece of it.


Cheers, somehow,
John