Peter and all listers, I have pasted below a message I received from Greg Williams
Joe, Steve; I don't know Peter's address. You might want to forward this to him. I got back at 3am last night after hanging with a bunch of horn players that had come, literally, from near and from very far to see Jerome off. The service is this morning in a couple of hours (10am 12/29). We were up so late because for many years these same guys and I used to do the same thing with Jerome the hangmeister. Without him is something I never really contemplated because, like Peter and me and so many others, I truly wanted to believe he had finally beat the cancer when he had been back and playing with the section for a while I was also blind-sided to suddenly hear that he was gone. I just knew it was a mistake. I didn't know how I was going to deal with the emotion of seeing his large and close-knit family - but guess what!? Both sides of Jerome's family are infused with that same upbeat, loving and in the end accepting attitude. From his mother, who I met for the first time, to his cousins, to Patricia's family to the children and grandchild (Jerome Ashby - percussion) they are all sad but accepting of his passing because he somehow accepted it. He was at home with his loved ones and he passed in his sleep with a smile on his face(!) This guy was amazing even then. In the end the sadness was overshadowed by memories of his humor, his love for family and friends, his modesty and most of all the tremendous "something" he had that made you, no matter who you were, how many or few times you had met him, feel like you had a real friend in him. You never forgot him. When I got to the chapel I admit to being very uptight at the idea of possibly "loosing it" in front of so many people I didn't know. I sat alone for awhile trying to collect myself when his daughter, Violeta, came over to say hi and set me at ease. She then began introducing me and guess what? by the time I left there wasn't anyone I hadn't met and the evening, although sad, was spent with much laughter and reminiscences. His daughters and wife were consoling us! His kids got a kick out of stories we told them about "Popi" before he even knew their mother. They loved hearing about how he lived and how he reacted when he first met Patricia. I could see how much these stories meant to them and it felt so good to remember them with the girls and us guys that had spent those early years with him. In the end please remember that there are still a bunch of the Ashby family and they are all a treat to be around. In the end, though, Dec. 26th. 2007 changed my world and very likely changed everyone else's. Greg Williams _______________________________________________ post: horn@music.memphis.edu unsubscribe or set options at http://music2.memphis.edu/mailman/options/horn/archive%40jab.org
