Deaths and Injuries - Music by Stu Jenks

The year 2011 began with a madman trying to kill my Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, yet succeeding in killing Gabe Zimmerman and five others instead, and wounding an additional thirteen. My only sister, Pamela Jenks, died from breast cancer on June 21st, 2011, and my mother, Mary Jenks, succumbed to her dementia on July 7th, 2011.

There are empty spaces in my life where people once were. There’s an empty chair, in the House Chamber of our nation’s Capitol, where Gabby once sat; an empty desk at my local House Congressional office, where Gabe once worked; an empty Laz-E-Boy recliner at Crossroads Adult Care Home in Tucson, where Mary once held court; an empty sofa in my ancestral home in Raleigh, North Carolina, where my sister once watched Glee on TV.

Perhaps Gabby will again return to Congress, but my mother, sister, Gabe and others can only return as angel/ghosts in my dreams or as loving spirits in my living room. I miss them. So here are a few sonic prayers for these people and for other folk as well. These songs are my prayers.

Music by Stu Jenks, except Bright Morning Stars (Traditional) and Prayer For Gabby Giffords (Stu Jenks and Craig Schumacher). Mixed and mastered at WaveLab Studio, Tucson, Arizona, by Craig Schumacher and Chris Schultz.