Shout out, with love, to Richie Sambora!

Thinking about Richie Sambora a lot lately, funny it’s been years since I thought about “the boys.” I won’t say how many years however… I don’t know if I’m thinking of home or of youth, or if they are undeniably intertwined. I saw Richie on Oprah and heard he was fighting an alcohol addiction, oh yeah and that he was single again (yum). I wish I could contact him and tell him that he’ll be alright and when the bad time passes, it won’t even suck. Life will be rich and wonderful again. I just want to put it out into the Universe to let him know there are people out here on his side, with no judgments. Life gets hard, we all hit bad patches, and they last as long as they last. I feel a connection with Richie because we come from the same place. I can even say we’ve been at the same parties, except – damn it- never at the same time, ha ha, a couple of times they had already been there and left. We used to run around Jersey going where we thought “the boys” were - looking good too: spiked hair, parachute pants, dog chains for necklaces and bracelets, black or silver lipstick, heavy black eyeliner and, oh yeah, we rocked! Looking back, I can’t believe it, but that was back in the day when I could pull off a pair of painted on jeans.

Richie, you rock and there are so many people on your side. I haven’t had a drink in years now, and when you try to stop, it seems so big, until you mentally make it smaller. I don’t drink (or smoke) because I am at an age where it doesn’t look good on me anymore. Yes, aging sucks, but we can’t stop it by acting as we did on our youth. Leave it in your youth, your daughter will thank you; your brain and body will thank you. We come from the same place and we’ve both had wild rides, albeit very different rides but still wild… now we both need to stop running after the next thing and love the place we are at right now. A drink would just give the moment fuzzy edges and life is too darn sweet when it’s crystal clear. No need to muddy it up. I heard this in a movie or somewhere the other day, “Pain is the gauge by which we measure the good things.” No shit, I have to agree with that. I’m sorry about your father, and the dissolution of your family unit. It’s a good thing love never dissolves. Rock on Jersey boy! All of the Jersey girls are on your side, even if we ended up as high school teachers in the great white north, ha ha – we still need the music and give you our strength until you find your own. Have a great tour!