...continue to spread your joy.

Last weekend was our fourth show in a row in four weekends.
Note to self (just like I do every year at this time): Do not book four shows in four weekends in a row!!!
I have lots to blog about but I need to take this time to write about Bubba.
A member of my tribe has been lost.
We do a lot of shows with a promoter called Sugarloaf. Nice promotion company and I like the shows. Over the past few years we have become part of the community. Every show we are at we share stories, break bread, stand around and kibbitz, and help out when a fellow artist needs to take a break (i.e. pee).
This past weekend we were not a Sugarloaf show but at a show by a little tyrant I call, "Little Dickie" (ands that's another story). A bunch of the artists are fellow Sugarloafians and we all do our thing of tribe like behaviors (yes, the good and the bad) and Sunday one of us gets the call that Bubba, who is in Columbus, Ohio at another show, was found dead in his hotel room. Xan heard it and came and told Michael and I.
I must admit that my first thought was, "Thank God he didn't die in a car accident". There are so many of us that get in car accidents.
I tear up. We have lost Bubba. Bubba was such a presence at shows. He was a very tall, very round bellied fellow who sold leather stuff. He was always walking around bellowing 'hello's and 'how are ya's to everyone as he came by your booth. He was always cheerful and present with people.
I didn't hang out with him. Whenever I saw him I would say 'hello' and try and match his beauty with my voice.
Bubba has/had a son (5 kids really). The son that he brought to shows is mentally challenged. He is around 30 or so and very shy. I talked to a friend yesterday (who called to see if we had heard) and she told me that Nathan, Bubba's son, once got she and a bunch of women artists to go and play lazer tag with him. He asked each one individually and they all found out about each other once they got there. "Must have been about 10 of us", she told me. What a crack up. I know Nathan because he loves 'Middle Earth Studios' which is a children's theater that comes to the shows for kid entertainment. We have set up near them at some shows and Nathan is at every theater performance. Of course, Xan knows him well because she likes 'Middle Earth' too.
Next weekend there is a Sugarloaf show in Chantilly, VA. We won't be at that one. I know that there will be something done in Bubba's honor. I'm sorry we will miss it.

Hail to Bubba. Thanks for being a bright aura among us. Sorry you had to leave. You will be missed but I promise you this:
I will always strive to greet people at shows with the same enthusiasm that you did. I will always do this in your honor so that a part of you will live on as I continue to spread your joy.