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What is your greatest loss?
Coincidentally my two greatest losses involve Dave in an indirect way.
My first was in 1999 when I lost everything in a flood. It was a flash flood and very unexpected. It was on the 4th of July and I was out partying. Get home at 2 a.m. and my apartment is a swimming pool. Piece of advice - call your insurance company and see what coverage you have for floods, because if you don't specifically ask for it, you may not be covered. I was not covered for anything. I got $30.00 worth of cleaning supplies from Red Cross. Clean what? It was all destroyed! I had to move in with my parents for 10 months to save money to completely start over. Thank God for them. The material stuff was eventually replaced, but I lost some precious stuff that can't be replaced. I had an entire trunk full of Van Halen stuff. I've been a fan from the start, so I had every magazine article on them. And back in the day, they were in Circus and Metal Edge every month, plus frequently in Hit Parader and even the teeny bopper's 16 mag. I had three 5-inch thick bulging scrapbooks full of articles and pictures. Plus I had books, all the albums on vinyl and cassette, and on and on. And of course I have all the same from Dave's solo career also including tour books, vinyl, cassettes, etc. It's all gone. All that really survived was my gold VH necklace that I've had since about 1980.
However, none of that really compares to my greatest loss, which was my dad in 2001. My pops was the greatest. He worked so hard his whole life to give his family the best he could. And then died at 61 before he got to retire and take it easy. He died early in the year, and it looked like it was going to be the worst year of my life. Then I heard an announcement that Dave was going on tour. Dave saves the day. I saw Dave three times that summer and had the time of my life. It had been years since I'd seen Dave, and to see him three times in three months was more than I could ever hope for. I wrote a letter to Dave - which he probably never saw - because I wanted to thank him for turning around the worst year of my life and for thinking of his fans and showing us such a great time. I've always turned to Dave/VH music to cheer me up, escape from reality or satisfy whatever my need be at the time. I take it everywhere, so it's always there when I need it. It always makes me feel better. Not just because it is so good, but it brings me back to that time; and I remember how fun and exciting it was when VH were Kings of the World. So so long ago. Shit, now I'm depressed. Well, I know what I have to do. C-ya.
My first was in 1999 when I lost everything in a flood. It was a flash flood and very unexpected. It was on the 4th of July and I was out partying. Get home at 2 a.m. and my apartment is a swimming pool. Piece of advice - call your insurance company and see what coverage you have for floods, because if you don't specifically ask for it, you may not be covered. I was not covered for anything. I got $30.00 worth of cleaning supplies from Red Cross. Clean what? It was all destroyed! I had to move in with my parents for 10 months to save money to completely start over. Thank God for them. The material stuff was eventually replaced, but I lost some precious stuff that can't be replaced. I had an entire trunk full of Van Halen stuff. I've been a fan from the start, so I had every magazine article on them. And back in the day, they were in Circus and Metal Edge every month, plus frequently in Hit Parader and even the teeny bopper's 16 mag. I had three 5-inch thick bulging scrapbooks full of articles and pictures. Plus I had books, all the albums on vinyl and cassette, and on and on. And of course I have all the same from Dave's solo career also including tour books, vinyl, cassettes, etc. It's all gone. All that really survived was my gold VH necklace that I've had since about 1980.
However, none of that really compares to my greatest loss, which was my dad in 2001. My pops was the greatest. He worked so hard his whole life to give his family the best he could. And then died at 61 before he got to retire and take it easy. He died early in the year, and it looked like it was going to be the worst year of my life. Then I heard an announcement that Dave was going on tour. Dave saves the day. I saw Dave three times that summer and had the time of my life. It had been years since I'd seen Dave, and to see him three times in three months was more than I could ever hope for. I wrote a letter to Dave - which he probably never saw - because I wanted to thank him for turning around the worst year of my life and for thinking of his fans and showing us such a great time. I've always turned to Dave/VH music to cheer me up, escape from reality or satisfy whatever my need be at the time. I take it everywhere, so it's always there when I need it. It always makes me feel better. Not just because it is so good, but it brings me back to that time; and I remember how fun and exciting it was when VH were Kings of the World. So so long ago. Shit, now I'm depressed. Well, I know what I have to do. C-ya.
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