Today is another anniversary I remember, quite different than the one on September 23, the Great Flood date. That one still sends chills down my spine and has me breaking into a sweat at the same time, remembering how people in my building were all rushing about in the three units affected by my pipe breaking. Gulp! I will never be the same, I fear, still horrified of something similar happening again. It has a couple of times to me from others units but not quite the same scale of damage.
But, today's anniversary is different because it means nothing to so many people, except for her fans. On this date in 1970, when I was 14 and a freshman in high school, Janis Joplin died. I heard a collective "ugh!" go up from some of my readers, but those who knew me then also knew what a big deal that was for me.
People remember where they were when they heard President Kennedy was shot, and I remember where I was when I heard that Janis had died. One of my neighbors who rode the school bus with me told me. I was sure he was wrong, or just being mean to me, or something, but nope, she had died. Little Girl Blue had died of a drug overdose, and she had just been clean. How did this happen? That still bothers me! The bus stopped at Lincoln High School where we all got off and those of us going on to another school waited for the transfer bus. My friend, Suzy, met me there and together we mourned on the bus to MLHS, and as the day went on, though I was more of a fan than was she. That's what friends do.
Every year thereafter I would play my Janis Joplin albums, cassettes, CDs, or iTunes during the month of October. My sister, Lori, would get a phone call from me and she'd know what day it was. I'd tell her I was wearing my black arm band and was listening to my music. In fact, back to the Great Flood remembrance, my neighbor, Ellen, in an effort to comfort me, presented me with a 3-disc collection of Janis' music!! So, there you go!
I'd love to talk some more but I have to go listen to my bluesy jazz lady, my lonely little girl blue....
