A Birthday Gift For Art

On Sunday, February 18th, Art will celebrate his 42nd birthday. Eight hours of it will be spent here at the cancer center. As of today, he is hitting bottom. The side effects are increasing in numbers, adding mouth sores and loss of appetite to the list today. Unless there is a miracle, his symptoms will accumulate and worsen by the time it’s his birthday.

So, I have a plan. Art is a music lover. It soothes his soul (sorry for the cliché) and makes the days pass more quickly for him.

For his birthday, I ask that you send me a song.

1. Send either the title and lyrics of a song, or a music file (iPod preferable) or a CD of song(s).

2. The song should remind you of Art in some way or another.

3. Please include a note explaining why the song makes you think of him. Don’t forget to include your name, and the title of the song on the note and CD if you send one. It would be really helpful if you typed out the notes and sent them, even if your song is sent to me via email. I have limited access to a printer!

4. Don’t worry about genre as his tastes are pretty wide ranging from ragtime, to blues, to rock, to gospel, acapella, classical and yes even rap. Lately he’s been listening to Tom Waite.

5. The idea is to lift his spirits, give him something new to listen and to remind him, again, how much he is loved.

Please mail cds and notes to our apartment at 1420 Ambassador Way, Apt. # 2-204, Los Angeles, CA 90035. You can email music files to hamernagle@hotmail.com, please put Art’s Birthday in the subject line.

I know these gifts will do much to lift his spirits. Oh and it may seem random but please, DO NOT SEND FLOWERS! With a compromised immune system, flowers are part of the ever increasing list of “bad things that get Art hospitalized.”

Your gift will help him soar above these indecencies of this stupid disease.

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