I have three daughters, and had three son-in-laws at one time (one of them is separated from my daughter, but fortunately, not from his). Between 1997 and 2004, I managed to take all three of the son-in-laws to different Phish shows.
John and Jen were both beside me at my second Phish show, a real nice one on 12/02/97 in Philly. Gary was with me front row, dead center at MSG on 12/29/98. But Jaime, married to my youngest daughter, Liz, and father to three of my grandchildren, including my first and only (so far) grandson, came with me to a number of different concerts and clubs, including three Phish shows.
Among the notable Phish performances he’s experienced, are the Bathtub Gin from 06/28/00 at PNC, and the Tweezer from 02/28/03 at Nassau, and it’s always given me great pleasure to know that he was able to appreciate this music. I wouldn’t exactly say that he’s a fan, but he does play guitar, even though his tastes lean toward metal. But even a metal head was in awe of Phish at these two shows, and he still talks about the first set of 6/28 as his personal favorite.
Yesterday morning, I had to run over to their house and drop off a few small pieces of furniture. As Jaime and I were lifting the furniture off the truck with the “Save Gamehendge” sticker on the bumper, my grandson and his younger sister circled behind us and tried to jump out to surprise me by wishing me a “happy birthday”. I saw them out of the corner of my eye, but pretended to be joyously surprised when they finally executed their plan.
After we had dropped off the first piece inside and were walking back to the truck, Jaime turned to me and handed me a thimble size baggie of greenish plant material, something he referred to as “purple haze”.
“Here’s a little pre-birthday gift to help you enjoy the day”. I was kind of dumbfounded since he doesn’t smoke because of his job and family responsibilities. But he made a connection at work for a little taste just to give me for my bday, and that’s pretty cool, and I told him so.
I don’t get to spend a lot of time with either of my son-in-laws. They are both hard-working, dedicated family men at the moment, and I worry about them all the time. I know how difficult the long hours at work can be, how much there is to do when you get home, and how little real time they have for themselves at this point in their lives.
I guess that’s what made Jaime’s gift so meaningful to me. He actually took a few moments out of a very busy life to recognize how much I appreciate all that he’s done for my daughter and their children. I like to think that it’s the same level of “recognition” that we shared after Phish had finished that 6/28 first set with a killer “If I Could” and we kind of turned to one another with a “holy shit!!!” unspeakable on our lips, but mutually understood by the smile on our faces.
Thanks Jaime, you make me proud. (And a little later on today, you’ll make me disappear!)