The Man From Glad...

I'm not going to make this a eulogy since my Pop passed last year, but I would like to make this a tribute to him.

This, folks, is Eddie Gladden. One of, if not the best drummer in the history of jazz. Now, there are great drummers, but none of them were as great as he was. Drumming was his lifeforce, but he meant more than that to me, now that I'm an adult.

Background story...

Back when I was a baby, my mother fell in love with a man named Eddie. He became my father, when my biological was too much of a coward to own up to a responsibility he created with my mother. For this, I was somewhat of a hurt child. I always wondered what I had done, to make my real father not want me. That's when my Pop stepped in.

I can remember when I was 5 years old, my real father told my mother he was coming to take me shopping. Although, Mom and Pop were an item, my mother never made a big fuss when my real father wanted to come around. Even though those moments were few and far between. So, I'm waiting, and waiting. Hoping and praying my father was not the liar my mother always complained about. I remember just sitting there, hoping he would open the door and grab my hand to take me anywhere. Anyplace with my father would have been wonderful. Hell, he could have taken me to the local bodega, and I would have been elated.

No one showed up...

This left me, a wee 5 year old, broken and bitter. I cried so hard, and my Pop saw this. I asked him would he be my Daddy. He told me, he couldn't be my real Daddy, but as long as he lived, he would be my play Daddy. From that moment on, he had become Pop. The one man who showed stability in my life. From then to now. He showed me the love and nurturing a father could in his own quiet way. I knew he was happy, when he would come to our house. We were his surrogate family. His home away from worry. His shelter from the outside world. Even though, our circumstances were quite complicated, we were the happy family. As I grew into a woman, my love for him changed, and strengthened. In my foolish, adolescent years, I did judge the relationship my mother had with him, but I changed my view when I became a woman. I finally realized what Pop brought to us, no one could have ever done, or do. He was the man of the house, and the King of our castle.

So, having said all this...

Pop, I know you're jamming somewhere with Uncle John, Miles, Art and Uncle Dex. I know you're loving it too! I never had the chance to say goodbye to you, but I think this is the only way for you to understand what is in my heart for you. I love you and I always will. Thank you for raising me to be a strong woman with a penchant for bebop. In the next life, I will be the protege singing your songs and rejoicing in your solos. I am and will forever be your princess.

Happy Father's Day...