Monday, January 14, 2019
My deepest condolences to all. Thank you for this opportunity to share in your and our loss of Dawn’s Soulful Light in Earthly Living.
I was one of the members of the all girl band that Dawn led in High School. I have remembered her so frequently over the years... for her amazing talents, her true passion for music, her commitment to preparation for excellence and her kind tolerance for those of us with less of all those Blessings.
Dawn was a great example and influence as a true friend early in life. We could always count on her to bring out and expect the better parts of all of us in our striving to learn and improve our band.
In our band’s favorite performance of “Piece of My Heart”—- she put up with my fancying myself the Janis Joplin -ish vocalist as simultaneously attempting keyboard. Dawn often told me I was “too good to be as ‘bad’ as Janis” in singing from those raspy, soulful and blues roots within. It took me years to get what she meant.
I learned a lot about giving of one’s own heart; having it broken; forgiving others and myself; knowing uniquely Human resilience; being wrong a lot; feeling the deep desert of loneliness and blues of hardship; and, the importance of coming from a voice that is deep within our imperfect souls in holding and living in the Grace of True Faith. I was Blessed to be mediocre in Dawn’s all girl band and yet, embraced as a chosen member. Dawn —-and the rest us —-were committed to be without hurtful criticism toward one another.
That was what Dawn would say was why she chose to start the band in the first place. Being critical and competitive was what was normally associated with teenage girls in their gloriously pubescent years.
We were different. We were learning from Dawn——that being different took Courage, practice and heartfelt kind honesty.
Dawn’s wise words have echoed in my heart and mind many times in life. She held wisdom and knowledge in her heart and mind truly beyond her years.
I only wish she could have heard my son as a teenager and me singing “Piece of My Heart” on our many trips across Wyoming...as he was in perfect key and I had only the raspy, bluesy, soulful voice of living “bad enough to be good”.
Thank you, leader of our band! May you rest in Peace, dear friend, Dawn. You will always have a Piece of my Heart.
