Blind Items Revealed #35 - Kindness

November 22, 2016

Between now and Thanksgiving, the big blinds will all be Kindness blinds. Originally the one I am posting now I thought would be best on Thanksgiving. Then, i realized maybe you wouldn’t see it because you were busy with friends and family. Maybe you wouldn’t see it tomorrow because you would be traveling or leaving work early. To me, it was important you saw it. It means a lot to me. Even though our subject is US born, most people in the US will be hard pressed to think of who our subject is, while people in Europe might get it in a second.

While I write this, I am listening to her music. When I think about her, I am reminded of what a truly talented singer she could be. Honestly, I wish she could have sung a duet with Amy Winehouse just to see who could do better. I haven’t looked through every Amy Winehouse interview or her influences, but it wouldn’t shock me to see her mention the subject of our blind.

Our subject used to be A list in her town but nowhere else. One of those performers who makes a ton of money at home, but would be forced to play for free on the road. One night, after a show, I had met with a group who was on the road and they wanted to see someone. I told them I knew the perfect person, but once they saw her perform, their life would change forever. People talk like that all the time. A lot of hyperbole. Not with our subject. Nope. If you saw her once, you remembered her forever. Her sets covered any kind of music being played in the world. No one could put her into one type of genre. Music was her genre.

When she finished her set, I introduced her to the guys in this band. She now had huge fans and as usual there was talk of wanting to record with her. It was the same every night she performed. I asked her if she wanted to do a shot and she said she would but that in return I had to go help out at a food kitchen at 6 a.m. It sounded all good at that time of the night so i agreed.

At 530 a.m. the phone rang and rang and when I finally answered it was her telling me to get my ass up and meet her there. There is where she went every morning. Well, most mornings. And when she finished making and boxing all the meals in the morning, she would spend a few hours delivering those same meals. This is the same person who never went to bed before 1 or 2 in the morning.

The program had originally been designed to make and box meals to people with AIDS who were to ill to do it themselves. At this point in time, the drug cocktail was out, and things were changing, but AIDS patients were the main recipient. The program still exists, but now has shifted their focus to other people in need, including those who still need help and suffer from AIDS.

I usually went down to help once a week or every other week. To be honest, it was usually only when reminded by our singer. She did a lot of reminding. She did a lot of wrangling. She did a lot of fundraising. She did so much wrangling, reminding and fundraising that the number of meals served tripled. She got all kinds of businesses on board. She hounded restaurants to have days where their proceeds would go to help the mission. Tireless does not begin to describe her. Until one day she was tired. Dying. Given a few months to live. In so much pain but she was there doing her best everyday. Until she couldn’t. Until the day the meals we made were for her and taken to her. The person you would do anything for. The person who would do anything for you and for strangers and do it with joy in her heart was the one in trouble. The one who died of cancer. The one who achieved her greatest professional success after she died. The one who only went number one after she died. The thing is, for those who knew her and those who loved her and those who were thankful for what she did each day, she was always our number one. Like so many others, I loved her and miss her so very much.

Eva Cassidy