Roger Zee Memoirs

"Life and Times of a Pandemic Musician"

2021 Rebirth 04/11/21

Wish I had a tail, just like a big cat. Then I could express my feelings without speaking, something which always gets me into trouble, LOL! My life usually runs in three year cycles, up and down. But lately, I feel a rebirth. Three years ago, everything's going great. My Thursday night Victor's Hawthorne Jam with Rudy Feinauer's flying high. Also gigging a bit with Johnny Feds and No Discipline. Welcome to another excerpt from my memoirs, "Life and Times of a Pandemic Musician." B-|

But then I go in for a prostate biopsy and all Hell breaks loose. They diagnose me with super aggressive Prostate Cancer, 9.5 out of 10 on the Gleason scale. I spend the summer of 2018 getting 45 days of radiation and beginning three years of chemo / hormone therapy. Then lose my girlfriend (twice), and eventually my Thursday Jam. Spend the last year in total lockdown isolation due to my compromised autoimmune system. And finally, my beautiful cat Lembus dies. Sounds like a bad Country song! But then things start to turn around. :-O

Spring has sprung! Went for my chemo on Friday thinking I would get my last dose in July. But it turns out I finished that day. OMFG! My writing's blossomed. Adopted a crazy "Rock 'n' Roll Woman" Kat named Zoe. Got my Thursday Jam back. Wrote over seventy pieces for my memoirs, and managed to interview some very heavy hitters in the music business. Recently penciled in an August gig at the Naumburg Band Shell in Central Park by the Bethesda Fountain -- the same place I played the Tenth Anniversary Easter Be-In to 5,000 people on 04/04/77 during the "Summer of Sam!" And now I'm ready to start going out and playing clubs, bars, and restaurants again -- of course always wearing a face mask! =^_^=

You see I got real sick with flu-like symptoms after both of my vaccinations. The first instance lasted for five days and the second for eight. But as my friend Rudy said, "At least you know your system produced some antibodies," LOL! So now I can begin to stick my feet into the "shallow end of the pool." What's the worst that could happen? My son just got his two shots and will spend my April 16th birthday with me. Next Friday, my daughter receives her first vaccination and will visit here from San Diego in mid-May. Pretty soon, my outdoor Yoga class should re-start. And I keep praying that life will slowly return to normal. Next on the horizon. Should I pick up stakes and relocate to Paradise Beach, San Diego this Fall? Can I handle 65-75° weather, 365 days a year with little or no rain and humidity? Surf's up, baby! ;-)

So as this roller coaster ride barrels along, I sometimes wonder if God hates me, loves me, or even if it makes any difference. I miraculously survived a horrendous five-day heart attack that no one thought I would, only to fall prey to aggressive cancer a year later! Maybe s/he gets distracted and takes their hand off the wheel. Some philosophers claim that man created God in his own image. What am I to think? But true to my nickname, "The King of Denial," I quickly put all this aside and strap on "Brownie," my Mexican Fender "Player" Precision Bass, and thump along to "Three Little Birds (Everything's Gonna Be Alright)" along with the rest of my favorite Bob Marley album, "Exodus." One <3

YouTube - Three Little Birds (Everything's Gonna Be Alright" - Bob Marley