Jerry Garcia Vigil
By Andrea Hamilton
My friend Hillarie called me around 11:00 in the morning August 9th. At first the things she was saying just didn’t register. Then I heard it again “Jerry’s dead. He died at 4:24 this morning.” I was upset and in shock. For any of you who don’t know who I’m talking about, Jerry Garcia is the lead singer for the legendary Grateful Dead.
After bumming around most of the day, we drove to Loring Park where a candle light vigil was being held. We arrived fairly early. Drums were playing. We laid down our blanket, lit up our candles and incense and got lost in the crowd around us.
There was such a wide variety of people. It really made you see how Jerry and the Dead had affected so many peoples lives. Little kids born in the 90’s granola generation, middle aged yuppies, hippies, punks, dead heads everyone you could ever think of.
There was a lot of crying, laughter and hugs on this day. Devoted Deadheads had given up their lives to go on tour. Now they were heartbroken and lost, seemingly without their family. No one really wanted to believe it was over. One of my friends who had gone on tour numerous times was almost hysterical, for she didn’t know any other way of life.
So we got up and danced to the drums for Jerry, sang a few songs, including “Ripple” one of my favorites, saw all our friends, met some new people, gave out hugs, reminisced, and got lost in our thoughts and prayers for Captain Tripps.
There was a picture of him with candles, flowers and mementos all around, a huge banner everyone signed and our sidewalk chalk-art. These were all ways of saying goodbye. This really was the end of an era. The love Jerry and the Dead put out to their fans was insurmountable. To most of us he was like a relative, like a very special, talented- musically and artistically talented or something grandpa, and was loved a lot. We all miss him greatly. Let there be songs to fill the air!
What A Long Strange Trip it’s Been…