At the beginning of January I lost a friend to ALS (a quickly disabling degenerative disease) and it was a sad reminder of life’s cruelty as well as its blessings.
Yes, I have multiple sclerosis and I do not wish it on anyone. But my childhood friend, Jim, suffered greatly and far more than I want to imagine.
We too often wallow in self-pity: 
Then an event occurs that snaps us back to reality.
I lost a good friend to ALS the third day of 2015. Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) is often referred to as Lou Gehrig’s Disease. A humble and often self-deprecating man, Jim Gardner was an intelligent thinker and excellent musician.
As fellow musicians, Jim and I attempted to become a two-keyboard rock band in the late 1960s. We performed publicly only one time — in the Auditorium of our High School. The concept failed.
In the early 1970s, Jim was deep into the music of Pink Floyd and the orchestral and theatrical “feel” of their music. That style did not fit well into the dance scene of the time but that did not deter Jim from publicly performing that type music. Jim played in numerous local bands throughout his life. When the 60’s & 70’s local band, The Elements of Time, reincarnated itself with the late Kent Stembel at the helm, Jim took over my spot at the keyboards and the band continued to thrive for several years.
When his dad was in the hospital, we tape recorded “When the Saints Go Marching In” on our clarinets for private playback in an attempt to cheer up his dad. It was intentionally bad and I think met our goal of bringing a smile to his dad’s face.
During one of our marathon two-keyboard living-room practice sessions in 1969 or 1970, Jim cracked me up by suddenly reciting comedian George Carlin’s “Hippy Dippy Weatherman” routine from memory. He must have gone on for 10 minutes and got it right — word for word.
It seems appropriate to quote Carlin from that weatherman routine: “Tonight’s forecast: Dark.”
Rest in peace, Jim.
Denver MS Men's Group 