It will be strange

As I write this, the rock band Rush is in its final stages of mixing its 18th full-length studio album with an anticipated release time of late April or early May.
Yes, I've been listening to a lot of old Rush lately to get ready and pouncing on any new information floating out there in cyberspace.
What will be hard about this release is that Amanda and I won't have Chris Walls with whom to talk to about it. We last saw Chris alive when he, Amanda, another friend of his and I went to see Rush in Nashville, Tenn. on the opening show of their 30th anniversary tour in May '04.
We often talked about Rush - a likely strong influence on his desire to drum - when we got together. (Rush's drummer and lyricist Neil Peart is considered by many one of the best percussionists in the recorded world.)
If we do get to see Rush on this tour, possibly one of their last, it will be difficult emotionally for at least part of it, especially Neil's solo, which is usually mind-blowing.
As we awaited official word of Chris' death on a Saturday in June, I listened to a disc of an old Rush show and sobbed. Amanda mentioned said it today - it won't be the same when the new album comes out. She sure is right.
We aren't the same people because of Chris and Leah - they inspired us to take risks and dream big. They put some distance between themselves and the familiar to move to Nashville for an undetermined outcome, then did the same when they moved to Arizona.
While we haven't reached our potential (who really does?), we were motivated to some degree by them to step out where the ground is uncertain and the people are unfamiliar. In coming to this region of Mississippi, we did exactly that. That's something that just isn't normally part of who I am.
But we're living in a previously uncharted part of the world for us, and for the most part, enjoying it. Having a child like Jadyn and some of our closer friends around sure helps.
So, when the Rush album comes out, there are a few people around who care and who I hopefully won't bore to tears as I break it down, piece by piece, and put it back together again to understand the meaning of the lyrics and the musical structure of the songs. I hope they'll pardon me as they fill in for Chris.
Here's hoping that somehow, someday, Amanda and I will have some kind of lasting influence on those around us (like Chris and Leah did for us), and that they won't only remember us, but Jesus Christ above all.