Well written, Uncle Dave ...
I truly miss the days when I was playing restaurants and country clubs and had so many of the same patrons come in every weekend ... the bond you can make is quite amazing ...
After having played in a band with the same guys for 26 years, when I moved to RI I took a 7 - 8 year 'hiatus' from playing out ... I can remember the first restaurant I played in when I FINALLY got the 'castagnes' to hit "the trenches" again ... there was one couple in particular, every Friday night, and he would request "Love Is a Many Splendored Thing" ... of course he only had to request it twice and from then on it was automatic for me any time they came into the place ... Fast forward a few years, different restaurant, the same couple walks in and I dedicated the song to them - they were amazed that I remembered ...
I am somewhat disheartened by the fact that at my age of 77 years, I still feel I have a lot of music to give - which is validated when I sub for a friend of mine at an upscale restaurant in MA - but no 40 - 50 year old owner/manager is going to hire a guy my age to entertain their clientele ...
Ours is an amazing gift, and I will keep at it in some form until the Good Lord says "That's enough" ...