The End

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Three years ago yesterday — October 18, 2018 — I went to my most recent concert. Tonight that drought was supposed to break, with my niece and I going to see the Felice Brothers. Instead, the realization that the Robbie Fulks/Linda Gail Lewis show in Indianapolis will probably be my final concert set in. Why? There are a boatload of reasons. Most of them physical. I can’t stand for long periods of time anymore. I carry a cane that converts to a seat with me when I go shopping, because I simply cannot take the pain of standing in a checkout line for five minutes. If that hurts, imagine five HOURS of standing at a concert. I knew this was getting to be a problem when I saw Robbie’s year-end show in Chicago one year. After the show, instead of chatting with friends, I was leaned over backward across the stage edge, trying to get my back to unlock. I’d been standing (and dancing, but generally “not walking anywhere”) from 7 PM until nearly 1 AM. My back gave me more crap than customer service reps get the day after Christmas when all the returns start coming in. Then there’s my hearing. I have some hearing loss, which is common in people my age, even without having spent four years working around military aircraft. I don’t hear everything that anyone says to me anymore. More significantly, music sounds weird. The best way I can describe it is the music sounds like it’s in the key of G and the singing sounds like it’s in Bb or something. I agreed to go see the Felice Brothers with my niece because I love her and I like the Felice Brothers. We’d seen them together once before and we had a blast. That was in 2015, just six years ago. I feel a lot worse than six years older now, though. Unfortunately, my niece — in a display of the “gracefulness” gene that has all but mandated that everyone in the family wear t-shirts that say “I do all my own stunts” — tripped over her bed yesterday and hurt her knees. No serious damage, but sore enough to make her realize she couldn’t stand for three or four hours at the show, either. PLUS drive here from Lexington. THEN drive home. So we canceled. In an almost confirming post-script, the VA called and left a message today regarding the knee x-ray I had yesterday. They want to put me in physical therapy for my knee. NOW. So, as far as concerts go, it’s the end. Don’t think it wasn’t fun, though. I had a great time getting this old! One of my favorite people to see over the past decade, Dale Watson: