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Carol Perkins: John Denver...The Memorial Service A great fan of John Denver's, the writer paid homage to great singer in Lexington, accompanied by her saintly husband, Guy. It was to have been simple tree planting service, but events, as they frequently do for our heroine, took some comic twists that day. -CM To read her next previous story click on Beech Bend Park By Carol Perkins Those who know me well know what a John Denver fan I was. When he died so tragically in October, 1997, I seriously grieved for the man and the loss of his music. I watched the news as thousands of fans made their pilgrimage to Colorado to pay their respects. I didn't take my adoration that far; however, after searching the internet, I did locate several sites in Kentucky where fans were gathering to honor his memory. I wanted to be a part of some type of closure, or thought I did. I convinced my saintly husband Guy to go with me to Lexington. "We're going to meet in a park, plant a tree, and then leave." Simple as that. At this point in our marriage he was used to my outrageous ideas. I contacted the organizer for details and off we went. Snow fell angelically in the park where we met a group of strangers. Someone brought an engraved stone to place next to the tree we were about to plant. Quite an expensive gesture! An elderly woman made rainbow ribbons for us to wear in memory of John's hit series for children: The Rainbow Connection. We proudly pinned these rainbow ribbons to our coats, held hands in a circle, and sang, "Sunshine on My Shoulders" as one of the men planted the tree. By then, dusk was creepy across the snow laden sky. Reporter from local station filmed the ceremony Not that Guy wasn't already feeling a totally ridiculous, but to make matters worse a news reporter from a local TV station filmed the ceremony for the evening news. "I'm standing in this circle with a bunch of kooks as the TV camera pans the crowd," he whispered out of the side of his mouth. His fear was that his business associates in Lexington would see this and think he was as loony as the rest of us. At the close of the memorial, we followed the crowd to a restaurant where the planner had reserved a private room. How could we refuse to go? I assured Guy that we would eat and leave. As the luncheon progressed, a fan brought out his guitar and began singing, "Annie's Song." Some of the women sobbed while others stared into oblivion with no visible emotion. Guy ate his roast beef and watched a goat on a hill outside the window. Attendees shared John Denver stories One by one each attendee shared John Denver stories. A young woman, being comforted by another, read a letter she had written to John the night of his death, telling of how she had wanted to marry him and have his baby. I knew I had to get out of there fast or Guy was going to leave without me, so I told about being a fan (it was my turn) and then we left. One the way home, we laughed and promised never to tell anyone about this event. "This is one of your best!" he vowed. I didn't tell anyone for a long time but eventually found it was too good to keep. A week or so later, our daughter happened to be in my car looking for something and came into the house carrying our leftover rainbow ribbon pins. "What is this?" she asked with a smirk. After I confessed where we had been, she said,"Did you wear these anywhereelse?" "Yeah, we wore them all day. Why?" "Mom, these are Gay Pride ribbons." I would later recognize these ribbons on TV and in movies, but at the time Iwas clueless. That story brings me to this. The phone rang about 11:00 one night and Carlasaid," Mom, turn on PBS, quickly." The channel was running a program on the life and music of John Denver. I admit the loss I still feel is akin to losing someone I knew well. My daughter and son grew up on his music. I still miss his concerts and his TV specials and the way he said "FAR OUT" I've moved on to George Strait, but when I hear "Country Road," my heart grows heavy. When Guy hears John Denver's name, he thinks of circling a tree in Lexington surrounded by a bunch of nuts. This was one time when he was right. About the author: Carol (Sullivan) Perkins is a lifelong resident of Edmonton, KY, in Metcalfe County where she taught high school English at Metcalfe County High School until her recent retirement. She is a now a freelance writer. is married to Guy Perkins and they have two children: Carla Green (Mark) of Brentwood, TN and Jon Perkins (Beth) of Austin, TX and six grandchildren. Her latest book, Let's Talk About, is a collection of over 70 of her works, and she is presently working on the second book in this series. Carol's ties to Adair County go back to Breeding where her grandfather, Rufus Reece, and her grandmother Bettie Strange, began their married life and later moved to Metcalfe County. You may contact Carol at cperkins@scrtc.com or write at P.O. Box 134 Edmonton. If you would like a copy of her book, you can order through email. Watch for her next story on Sunday, April 5, 2009. This story was posted on 2009-03-29 02:29:13
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Carol Perkins: Beech Bend Park Carol Perkins: Skate Key Carol Perkins: To The State CAROL PERKINS: Hit the slopes View even more articles in topic Carol Perkins |
 
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