#RememberingJones

“If we all could sound how we wanted, we’d all sound like George Jones.”

-- Waylon Jennings

Today I should be studying for contracts but I’m not. I have a final tomorrow, I need to. But instead, I am saying to goodbye to my idol. The sound of my childhood. A legend. The greatest Country singer to ever grace a stage. The Possum.

George Jones.

As I sit here watching his televised funeral, my heart aches.  I regret that I am not sitting there in a bench in the Grand Ole Opry House, watching this event take place. Instead, I’m watching it from my couch, crying like a child who can’t find his favorite toy. I know this won’t be all I could say about George Jones, and I know there will be things I think of later, but here’s my best shot while I’m in the mental state to do it.

How do you say Goodbye to somebody who has had such a huge role in your life?  How do you lie down at night and know that a chapter in your life has ended that you aren’t ready to let go of?

                    

You can’t.  There aren’t enough tissues. There aren’t enough words.

Hearing these stories about George from all the people who knew him makes me laugh, and cry, too. It’s amazing how I went from laughter to tears in just seconds. It’s just so hard to believe he’s gone.  I remember when I found out how close he lived to me when I was in Murfreesboro. I drove out there to see the Christmas lights and sit in his giant Rockin’ Chair. Oh, the memories. It makes me feel like I knew him personally, too. All my good stories with my dad usually had him playing in the background. The soundtrack to my life is George Jones.

From the time I was small, my dad wore him out. No matter where we went or what vehicle we went in, we were constantly listening to George Jones, with an occasional appearance of Conway Twitty or Merle Haggard.  I didn’t know any other music existed except Country. My dad would really get turned on when “One Woman Man” started playing, or  The Corvette Song (She was hotter than a $2 pistol). Even now when I go home, before bed each night, my dad plays George Jones on YouTube. From “Choices” to Gospel songs, everything and anything. A never-ending cycle.

George lived a crazy life and wrote a book about his journey. Through the hard times growing up, the drug and alcohol abuse, marriage and divorce, his life with Tammy Wynette, their sweet music together, his children, rising above his troubles and his addiction, marrying Nancy, the hits, and the shows, whether he made it or not.  81 years. A lifetime of amazing stories that only the man who lived them could tell.

I got to meet him once. I was more nervous than I’d ever been in my life. I don’t even remember what I said. But I remember never seeing a bigger smile on my dad’s face as he got to meet him as well. It was a dream come true. We didn’t have a great camera, I didn’t get to have a conversation with him, but for at least a minute, I got to stand next to a legend.

Oh the songs George sang, for every time in your life, every occasion. There isn’t a song you can’t relate to. Country Music will never be the same without him.

I can sit here and write a book bout his life, his music, his accomplishments, his failures, but there is nothing I could write that you can’t find and read about on the Internet. I’m not trying to paint a picture of George Jones, I’m trying to paint a picture of what he meant to me.

He was a member of my family, a part of my life, and my dad’s. My dad has listened to George Jones for over 40 years, and I’ve listened for 25. We followed him so much that we knew his show by heart.  We knew every word of every song. We knew what words he was going to plug in where they didn’t belong. We knew his band members and their names. We knew every sound he made; we knew every look he had. We felt like we knew him. My dad has a stronger bond because he stopped drinking himself, and he had lived the song, “Choices” right along with George.

It didn’t matter that he had addictions. It didn’t matter that he was a no-show at times. It didn’t matter what problems he had. We knew who he was. He was our mentor, our counselor, our co-pilot, and our friend. He was right there for every problem we had, not to solve it, but to let us know we weren’t alone. Sometimes that’s all you need, a little support. Sometimes, you just need the voice, and the song. 

Last night, my dad said to me, “If you don’t listen to Country Music, you’re missing something in your life. I can tell people that, and they may not believe me, but it’s true.”  He wasn’t speaking to me specifically, he knows I listen, but to those who are missing the power, the truth, and the soul it has to offer.  And he is so right. I know what George meant to my dad, because I know how much he meant to me. He is part of the reason the bond with my dad is so strong.  He is the glue that holds us together some days. If we’re mad at each other, my dad just plays a George song, we sing along together, and we’re fine again.

I can continue to sit here and cry, and tell you all the reasons he meant so much to me, but you may never understand. You may be cynical and condescending. But look at the people who mourn him. He was bigger than Elvis. He carried Country Music. He touched the lives of so many people, those who are famous and those who are not.  Wynona just called him one of the greatest heroes of her life. I can sympathize, because I felt the same way. 

I haven’t cried this much in a long time.

Not only was George a good singer, but he was also a good man. He paid for Johnny Paycheck’s funeral, another legend lost in time. It’s because of things like that I know about, that I keep revisiting his song, “Who’s Gonna Fill Their Shoes?” And I know, that nobody will ever fill his. They’re just too big. Nobody will ever be able to put me on my knees with a Gospel song, or put me in a state of a coma with “Still Doin’ Time.” I love Jamey Johnson, and he may be close. But there was only one George Jones.

This has been one of the saddest days of my life. It’s so hard to say goodbye. The last time I saw him, at Renfro Valley, was so depressing. His voice was gone; he wasn’t the George I’d grown up with. But I was fortunate enough to have seen him when he was at his best. Those are the memories I will keep with me, the good ole days.

Something I loved about his services was how they have emphasized God, and where George has gone now, to sing for the Lord. His Pastor has done such a wonderful job. Especially telling of George in his final moments and how he wasn’t afraid. I heard Westboro Baptist Church was supposed to picket his funeral, they better PRAY that I don’t ever have the chance to run into them.

I especially love Alan Jackson being there and closing out the funeral with “He Stopped Loving Her Today.” And how he represented George Jones so many years ago by breaking out singing “Choices” for the awards ceremony instead of his own because they had refused to let George sing the whole song and George declined to sing at all. Nobody messed with George and got away with it. I also can’t help but think of Tammy right now. How much she and George loved each other. They were meant to be. The whole world knew it. I hope they have met up again in Heaven, and are just as happy as they once were.

No more riding 13 miles on the power lawn mower for George.  No more rocking on the stage. But he has left us with a legacy, a lifetime of memories and a collection of songs to more than keep him alive in our hearts. Thank you George Jones, for being such a huge part of my life. For giving me a song for every occasion. For showing us all we can always be better. I refuse to say goodbye. For me, it’s just see you later.

I will never stop loving you, George.

Here are a few quotes from the services I really liked:

“If George Jones can be forgiven by a loving Saviour, so can you.”

   – Pastor Wilson

  

 “If Norman Rockwell had been a singer, he would have sounded just like George Jones”

 – Mike Huckabee

 “We have lost a national treasure.”

 – Wynona

God Bless you, George.  Nobody could sing this one like you.

Amazing Grace

Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound, 

That saved a wretch like me.


I once was lost but now am found,


Was blind, but now I see.

T'was Grace that taught my heart to fear.


And Grace, my fears relieved.


How precious did that Grace appear


The hour I first believed.

Through many dangers, toils and snares


I have already come;


'Tis Grace that brought me safe thus far


and Grace will lead me home.

The Lord has promised good to me.


His word my hope secures.


He will my shield and portion be,


As long as life endures.

Yea, when this flesh and heart shall fail,


And mortal life shall cease,


I shall possess within the veil,


A life of joy and peace.

When we've been here ten thousand years


Bright shining as the sun.


We've no less days to sing God's praise


Than when we've first begun.

Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound,


That saved a wretch like me.


I once was lost but now am found,


Was blind, but now I see.