When Doves Cry

Nearly halfway through my ten-hour scoring shift today, the news alert on my phone beeped. This is not uncommon. I'm not sure how our local station decides which news is worthy of an alert; someitmes I get notice of crashes and traffic back-ups, but I know I don't get them all. So I didn't look right away, assuming it was about an accident or our big local story today, the kidnapping of a child found in Jacksonville. It isn't that those aren't important; I just don't need to know about them while I'm working. A few minutes later, when I did look, I was shocked. Prince had been found dead in his home. I immediately texted my kids and asked if they knew anything about this. (We're all big Prince fans from way back, some of us "wayer" back than the rest.) They didn't know, and they were bummed. I'm not a person who gets all caught up in celebrities and their lives -- or deaths -- but Prince had a special place in my personal music history. Of course, I'm not saying that makes other deaths less sad or tragic, only that this really threw me.

For about half an hour, I seriously couldn't get it together. I knew it would be silly and impractical to call my boss and say I couldn't work for the rest of the day because Prince died, but that doesn't mean I didn't consider it. I was having a hard time focusing on reading essays. I just wanted more information but even now, hours later, there isn't much information. He was fifty-seven! Maybe that's another part of why this has hit me hard. He's only a few years older than I am. Two out of three of my sons called. I have to say, even though I couldn't talk long because of my needing to be available to my raters, I was glad they called. (The third one started a new job this week and doesn't have quite the same level of freedom, workwise, that the other two have.) They knew I was broken up, but we talked about other things too. When I finish typing this, I'm calling one of them back for a longer chat. 

I know I'm stating the obvious here, but this has been the worst year for classic rockers ever. If you don't know the song referenced in my title, give it a listen. I went to Youtube and played it just after I heard the news, and I knew immediately it would be the title of my blog. And if you ever have the chance, watch the concert video for the album Sign of the Times. It's in my top two, right next to Stop Making Sense by Talking Heads. So long, Prince, and thanks for sharing your gifts.