Relative Something

I first met him as my friend’s friend. The Honorable H. Peter Albrecht. Only knowing him for all too short a time did nothing to soften the horrible shock of learning Peter died yesterday after suffering a stroke. The primary connection I was privileged to have with Peter was playing guitar and singing songs at our friend, Gary Larson’s “music night” parties.

Peter was fun, funny, friendly, gracious, witty, a jokester, I’ve heard prankster, and did I mention fun? He also was a collector of guitars. Peter described keeping an old empty guitar case at his office so he could purchase a new (to him) instrument and bring it home without revealing he had added another guitar to his collection.

He didn’t exclusively play and collect guitars. Some nights after dinner at Gary’s, Peter would pull out a gorgeous mandolin or less often, a banjo. As thrilling as that was for me to see the greater extent of his musical passions, it left me struggling to follow along without being able to see what chord he was playing on songs I didn’t know.

We all tend to struggle with remembering lyrics at times. When Peter clicked into a song, I found myself mesmerized by the many verses he was able to deliver with ease. Suddenly, he would nod my way and invite me to improvise a lead up the fretboard, jarring me back to needing to connect my head with my fingers.

I cherish the stories from Gary and Peter’s years together working as judges that I was able to hear over so many dinners. It was not enough though. I was playing my guitar yesterday to polish up my underused skills in preparation for the latest occasion of Gary’s music party scheduled for tonight.

Receiving that shocking message from Gary yesterday afternoon introduced a finality that I’m wrestling to comprehend. How can Peter be gone? Why didn’t I play more songs with him when I had the chance?

It has instantly made every memory of playing together with Peter and Ned Wahl on those music nights a pure treasure for me.

I wrote a song for Gary to commemorate his many years of hosting these parties. Peter was such an influence on me he made it into the lyrics, good-naturedly poking fun at him for his bad jokes.

look what Gary has created
he’s done it again
gathered all of us together
to feast among friends

then we revel with some music
and lush sing-alongs
well maybe not so lush
we can’t remember the songs

Chorus: hail, hail our friend Gary
it’s a wonderful thing
he gets all of us together
and inspires us to sing

 we pause to remember
all the times come before
then relish this fine moment
singing with friends we adore

some say it’s penance we’re paying
for being so well-fed
or a way to forget the worst jokes
Peter has said

but the truth is that we’re happy
to sing when it comes time
it’s a precious thing to be here
mixing with folks so divine

Into the light, Peter. I will think of you every time I flip the latches open on my guitar case.

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