No Cure, difficult choices for Sufferers.
Play to hear Glenn Frey and the Eagles.
Ten days before my 57th birthday on January 18th. we mourned the loss of one of music's greats, Glenn Frey. I never met Glenn, but followed his entire Career. Glenn Frey, like me is from the Detroit area, he went to High School a couple of towns over in Royal Oak.
Glenn graduated in 1966 from Dondero High. The same High School that author Judith Guest, '54, (Ordinary People won an Academy award for best picture) graduated from. And legendary activist Tom Hayden was a graduate in 1956. I graduated from Brother Rice in 1977. Coincidentally, I would hold the Dondero HS pool record in Diving for some years. Frey played lead acoustic guitar and back up vocals for another famous Detroit Rocker, Bob Seager (Ann Arbor HS 1963) on his hit "Ramblin Man" before leaving Detroit for California. Frey never forgot his Michigan roots, especially his pride in Detroit.
None of us do.
Growing up in the 1970's, Detroit was the Home of Rock and Roll, and is to many still. Sorry Cleveland.
Glenn Frey met up with Don Henley, formed the Eagles and the rest is history. In fact, they have an Eagles history that won awards on Showtime.
Of course there were excesses. We grew up in the 60's and 70's for gods sake! We had smoking areas in our High School, the drinking age was 18 and everyone smoked pot. Some did more.
Glenn Frey became a health nut, not unlike millions of other Baby Boomers. He ran, kept a healthy weight and mind.
Glenn Frey dead at age 67. What the Fuck?
Now the scary part. He had painful arthritis like me and millions. Arthritis is the leading cause of disability in the United States, Canada and Great Britain.
We are not talking another boomer exercise side effect, Osteoarthritis. This is "normal" wear and tear which causes pain, loss of cartilage and eventually replacement if possible.
There are 100 kinds of Arthritis. Chronic (meaning forever) pain and a host of other medical conditions come with arthritis.
It's like having a monster inside you.
If the monster gets scary enough, you go to medication. Medication that very well may be effective, however, with deadly consequences.
Modern medicine gets your body to stop attacking it by using Chemo like drugs to lower you immune system. You may feel better or not. But these days, everybody is pitching these drugs for illnesses which doctors can't diagnose nor treat. The side effects can be something of a problem when you get other diseases caused by your medication and then can't fight off another.
Precisely what happened to my fellow Detroit-er, Glenn Frey. He got pneumonia and his immune system could not help him.
Trying to stop the agonizing pain, he took the medication with all the bells and whistles.
But these medications have nasty side effects. How many more people have to suffer, or take harmful medications before something gets done?
Why can't Americans agree and get stuff done instead of polarize and control? This has a lot more meaning to it when there are lives at stake.
Millions of lives.
Wake up America, there is more to building walls and prejudice. People are suffering.
Now they are dying. That is not a Peaceful Easy Feeling is it?
Rest in peace my friend
Glenn Frey
1966-2016
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