Tuesday, December 9, 2014

Perry Damone - A Child Of God - We all are Children of God…Perry is HOME. Miss you already

December 9, 2014 Perry is now with his beloved mom. 

Perry Damone.


Know him? To know him is to love him.  Perry never had a negative comment to say about anyone, even if they hurt him or did him wrong. No, my Per-bear, as I called him because he gave amazing hugs, was kind to everyone.  He found the good in people – even when it took others (a long) time to find the good in people, he FELT the good.  We would have conversations about our life experiences, some of these experiences were pretty painful.  I would want to verbally “take care” of whomever hurt my Per-bear. I was the one with the mouth, not Perry. He would very calmly tell me that “it is what it is”…. “live & learn…..We want people to be happy…we want to move on and forgive.”  He would chuckle as I used my very colorful & descriptive words to get my point across on how I felt about forgiving rude people.  He would tell me that you can’t go through life worried about how these people hurt you. Yes it hurts, but you gotta move past it.  I always thought he is much too nice to people that don’t deserve his kindness.

Perry’s passion was radio…and kids…combine the two and you have Kidstar Radio. He had a vision to build the self-esteem of kids and give them a direction for which they can grow & be proud.  He put real working radio stations in schools that was run by kids.  Who didn’t want to have that kind of experience? Perry was a broadcaster,  a DJ with  very kind heart, a personality that everyone loved. Bringing his love of people to the airwaves. He wanted to share his love.

Perry (named after the smooth voice crooner Perry Como) also loved to sing…and could he sing! Back in the old days when radio was fun  (at the “little nickel & dime radio station” -a description, the late great Bill Austin would use to describe the station)   - we would regularly go to The Native New Yorker on 70th St & Shea  and do the karaoke thing.  Perry’s best friend, Frank & Kathy Sinclair had  a karaoke business that was so very much fun. Perry sang quite a few songs with all the love in his heart. One of his songs he regularly sang was Frank Sinatra’s “I’ve Got You Under my Skin”…. I loved listening to him sing. His dad, Vic, may have been the singer in his family but I tell ya, Perry had a voice that was so smooth that people stopped just to hear him sing.  Yep, the good ‘ol days. I miss those days…I will miss my Perry more.  I will miss him so very much.  Per, I know you’re in Heaven, you are with your mom, I am sure of it…it’s been waaaay too long that you’ve seen your mom.  I know we don’t have here on earth what glorious unearthly possessions you now have with our Heavenly Father, but I do wish I had more time with you. We had more to discuss, more to laugh, to love. I will miss you, my friend, my sweet, kind, gentle friend. Loving you more than you know!

Side note: (Actually this is a BOTTOM note as it’s at the bottom)
My heart is broken. Truly broken. I’m so unbelievably sad. I knew the day was near, I thought I would at least get to see him one more day. That was my plan.  He was in hospice located in the same parking lot with the doctor I work for in Scottsdale… the same parking lot! It was perfect - if you can call it that. Actually perfect would've been Perry being cured, but God had plans.

I have always expressed my feelings through music, I used to write, occasionally play and sing, but always listen.  Ya know how you hear everything happens for a reason? I couldn’t hear the music. My friend is gone and as I am trying to digest this huge loss, I couldn’t hear the music that so loudly plays in my brain.  I open my phone to call Kathy & Frank Sinclair, I needed to connect with them – they are my connection to Per, but my Facebook was open, which is really weird because it shouldn’t have been. I am happy it was because what popped up in the news feed was JUST what I needed.  My Richie posted something that reminded me that I do have Faith.  Perry had  Faith, he loved our God. So this song written so many years ago by Bob Diaz, my dear friend and guitar teacher was perfect…. it touches my heart and just so happen to be what I needed. Niños de Dios – Children Of God.  Perry is, we all are Children of God. Love of our God, that’s all we are – love of our God, we want to be.  Small as we are, babes in arms, growing strong  growing tall to heed the Lords call…
Children of God that's all we are,  Children of God we want to be...soon we'll be old and all alone
Waiting for God to rest our soul.

 Beautifully written
Bob Diaz, Richie Diaz, Thank you for posting.. I encourage you to listen to this song  - click the link below – it’s beautiful.  





1 comment:

  1. Lisa my friend, your words touched my heart. I sat here at my office desk in tears...sad tears that we have lost Perry but happy tears knowing that such a gift from God touched so many lives. I smiled when you talk about the hugs. That's my first impression of Perry. When I first met him on New Year's Even 2011, at the end of the evening Perry gave me such a warm and kind hug. He then gave me his phone number and told me to keep him updated on my writing. I can't tell you how good that made me feel. And I will never forget the smiles and happiness he gave to my elderly father, who truly enjoyed knowing Perry and getting to talk to him. He never stopped asking about Perry and he too cried last night when I told him Perry passed.

    One can tell upon first meeting that Perry Damone was a kind, sincere, loving and gentle soul ... a true angel who walked this earth. And now, God has called him home. Of course, that is not easy for any of us to accept because we no longer blessed with his earthly presence. However, we are blessed in knowing that as Heaven's newest angel, he is able to watch over all of us, touch our souls and perhaps guide us to be kinder and better human beings, as he was on earth. What a fine example of a leader of humanity God gave us while Perry was with us. Although I will never reach the level of Perry, knowing him and how he battled this horrific disease with grace, love, smiles and dignity, I want to be more like Perry, even just a tiny bit. I want to care for and love everyone. I want to not be angry and judgmental. I want to be kinder, because that is the example our friend showed us.

    Thank you again for posting such beautiful words. They helped me. I miss you and love you and hope to see you again my friend.

    Love,
    Cathy Greco xo

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