Jeff Hoke...a music man

A friend and mentor to my daughter died last Sunday afternoon from complications from diabetes. The scary thing about this death- he had no idea that he had it. At 42 years old, Jeff Hoke was taken from us way too soon.

An amazing musician and a gifted percussionist he taught many young people including my daughter not only to trust their talent, to always do your best, and to love the music they made. He expected them to be disciplined, but allowed them to be themselves. Each one of these were major gifts. His humor, tempered his anger if you did not work at their craft he was passionate about, but he loved them all as family. He made them better people and good musicians. I will be grateful I shared a little bit of his world.

Jeff leaves a wonderful wife, Beth, and two daughters (Sarah and Kelly), his parents, and immediate family, but there are a legion of others who loved him well, who miss him greatly, and will keep his life-work going because it mattered so much to him.

Yep, you never know when life is going to throw you a curve or cut it short. Let the people you love know that they mean the world to you, take time to enjoy and play when you can, be passionate about something, and don't be afraid to take a chance.

When someone leaves us there is always great sorrow because a piece of us has gone away with their passing. They may be in a better place with all the answers, while we remain on Earth to pick-up the pieces and ask why this happened to us.

Let's take each minute as the gift it is and remember we only have the present- the past and future is just an illusion. BE HERE NOW! As Jeff always said, "Make It Happen". Words to live by, because you never know.

Bernie Madoff and other dastardly criminals in the news.

I don't know about you, but these criminals who apologize in court for their past transgressions are making me a little sick. Is there anyone who take them seriously? Hearing Bernie Madoff, plead guilty and his less than heartfelt apology to the victims who lost their life-savings to his avarice and seeing his contrite demeanor in front of the judge was not at all convincing. This has to be just a manipulation to preserve the wealth in his family's name, which hopefully will never come to pass.

I am sorry- the performance was not that good. It sure isn't going to help his reputation in any way. His wife, children, and grandchildren have a lot of baggage to deal with, while Bernie will be living out his life in some federal prison. How could he do that to them?

OJ Simpson is another one who cried like a baby in court saying, he did not know he was doing anything illegal. What the heck?! Do you know he still receives a pension from the National Football League? Even worse, he does not have to give a cent of that to the Brown or Goodman family toward the 30 million dollars he still owes them. What kind of life has he given his children? Maybe, his crime this time was not horrible, but at least his cocky attitude will be shelved for awhile.

So, how about Rob Blagoijevich and his media tour or speech to the Illinois Legislature before he was impeached? Do I really have to say more?
Until next time....