In a Blaise of Glory

Posted on May 7, 2014 under Storytelling with 11 comments

Farewell to a great guy.

 

 

“Sing me back home, with a song I used to hear,

Make my old memories come alive,

Take me away and turn back the years,

Sing me back home before I die”

Merle Haggard

Blaise MacInnis and I were scheduled to perform “Sing Me Back Home” at Piper’s Pub at a fundraiser.   He died five days before he had his chance at the big times! In a tribute to Blaise, we sang him back home on that cold Saturday afternoon.  In a twist of irony, it was Merle Haggard’s birthday that same day.

I met Blaise about five years ago during the annual Christmas carol gathering at the R.K. MacDonald Nursing Home.  He was charming, gregarious and he loved to sing.  For two and a half hours he followed the carolers to every gathering spot in the home and sang his heart out.  We even crooned in the elevator as we went up one floor.  He smiled the entire time.

And just like that, he was taken from his family and friends and many are left to mourn and remember.

He faced adversity from the day he was born but, from all accounts, he accepted the cards he was dealt.   He was never bitter and it sounds like good humor was an integral part of his DNA.  I spoke to some of his buddies from his high school days who said he was a great guy and not beyond taking part in mischief from time to time.

His friends got together on the weekend to pay tribute to him.  Tyke (Ty) Wallace and Robert MacArthur organized an afternoon of music at the R.K.  And not just any music.  In rapid fire succession they trotted out all of Blaise’s favorites.

Along with his family and comrades, many of the residents of the home and the staff were in attendance.  The place was packed.  Blaise had a lot of friends and admirers.

There was an infant and there were a few residents at or near the century mark.  While time may have robbed the residents of their mobility, vision, hearing and memory, it did not rob them of their sense of joy as the first chords of “Branded Man” echoed throughout the room.

If the mark of the man is measured by the company he keeps, then Blaise indeed was “King of The Road”.  The next song in the repertoire, “Linda on My Mind”, was followed by “The Crystal Chandelier”.    Pride personified.  Then “Amanda, Light of my Life”.  Watching the faces of his immediate family and relatives, it was obvious that Blaise was indeed the “light of their lives”.

The room got warmer as the community wrapped its arms around Blaise.

“The Snakes Crawl at Night”, “Folsom Prison Blues” and “Coat of Many Colors” kept the toes tapping.  I noticed one of the residents dancing with a staff member at the back of the room.  Those country standards bring back great memories.

As Tyke and Robert sifted through a stack of papers, one of them commented that Blaise often kidded them when there was a pause in the action. “C’mon now.  Hurry up.  Quit stalling.”

“Kiss an Angel Good Morning.”  “Green Green Grass of Home.”  It was the greatest hits of country, sung from the heart.

You could almost see the mist hovering over the hills of Mabou and Glencoe as Robert played a haunting guitar solo, one of John Allan Cameron’s classics.

We ate cake and had a nice cup of tea.

And remembered.