Hello there,

Today I found an MP3 on an old hard drive of Uncle Dave singing 'A Nightingale Sang' and not only did it make me misty eyed but I started thinking of all the folks I used to know here. Sooo here I am and WOW! New look forum .....very snazzy Nigel. (well it may be old to you lot but it was still red and green last time I was here).

I saw a thread asking about 'that English oddball Tony' and was most surprised to imagine anyone would remember me after all this time. I was about to reply when I suddenly thought 'maybe they don't mean you' and suddenly it felt a little presumptive to reply there.

Mind you if there is another English oddball named Tony around here I just might sue him for stealing my act.

So where did I go?
Well unfortunately I got sick. I had been having health issues for a while that I could not seem to shake. At the time it was one thing after another. To cut a very long story short I eventually was diagnosed with M.S.

Initially I had a very hard time coming to terms with it. It seemed to me that for every concession I made to it there were plenty more waiting and I hated having to change my life.

Still it was not like I could tantrum at the universe forever ....well of course I could but it was not getting me anywhere. I gradually realised that grieving for what I was losing was destructive and a far better approach might be to learn to live differently and concentrate on what I could do rather than what I could not.

Unfortunately I don't play anymore. My hands claw up after only a few bars and it is incredibly frustrating after having played keys of one type or another since I was a child. Actually that is not strictly true. I sold all my gear but did end up keeping an old yammie digi piano 'just in case'. Now and then I sit down and blast out a song for old times sake. No-one can hear me so the mistakes don't matter.

For those privvy to my playing before I got sick you could be forgiven for thinking that maybe it would have improved my technique .....alas not!

Anyhows that is what happened to me ....... now.... how YOU doin?