![]() ![]() I would take her to the City Market where she gathered her favorite weekly victuals: all of it comfort food. I could still make her laugh (and we all know what good medicine that is). She was cheerfully philosophical and brave and never let on that she was afraid no sorrow or self-pity for this girl! She was slowly dying. She knew that her days were numbered but Annie was taking it all in stride. ![]() She had gone into hospice only a month after her dire prognosis in September of 2022. Phil and I realized what we had to do for poor Annie: to comfort her and to be a loving presence throughout her remaining days. Ann with Taylor Graves.Īnd then cancer raised its ugly head. She was leading a genteel life with her loving daughter, her best friend Bonnie, her indefatigable dog Daisy, extended family and many cherished friends and neighbors - contented and happy. I did work for Ann and, for one thing, built the flagstone walkway in front of the Graves’ charming custom built home. She soldiered on as a merry widow glad to have spent those many years with the love of her life. A fitting gesture for an amazing human being.Īfter John’s passing Phil and I pampered Annie. There surrounded by the big band was John’s piano, a tip jar and a glass of red wine ‒ sans piano man. We presented a jazz memorial for the Professor and it was quite the send off. ![]() John finally left us all to fend for ourselves. Luckily we filmed a DVD of the event which is dear to our hearts, and it shall hopefully live on in posterity. We staged the show at the Pagosa Springs Center for the Arts and it played for a packed house of fans and admirers. Phil and I produced a tribute to the great one and named it Sentimental Journey. He and I became close friends and now, along with Kim, consider ourselves “brothers from other mothers.” We were all family. Phil was the Professor’s favorite student at the the University of Central Missouri. And then Phil Swearngin entered the picture. ![]() I had met John’s son Kim and his lovely family. I broke down and joined their beloved Pagosa Universalist Unitarian Fellowship (PUUF) where John played piano every Sunday and I tried my best to be a little more spiritual. We both orbited John with his considerable gravitational pull tugging at our hearts. Of course Ann was part of the bargain: sort of a two-for-one deal I suppose. I considered him a mentor ‒ and my surrogate father ‒ for which he reciprocated. But I probably had it coming.)īack in 1999 I started playing jazz with Professor John Graves and, together, we soon became a force of nature: musically we could read each other like a book. (Except for that time with the cat o’ nine tails. But to my great surprise the two of us became the closest of friends and our time together was far from torturous. At that time I promised to be her man Friday and was available 24/7 for any sort of punishment and torture that she deemed necessary. Her diabolical adversary, acute myeloid leukemia, finally beat her down, but not without a fight.Īnn had been diagnosed with the disease back in August of 2022. I’m sorry to report that my friend and confidant Ann Graves has passed. ![]()
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