“I have now arrived at that point in my own story. There is a metaphorical garden in the acts and attitudes of a person's life, and the treasures of that garden are love and respect. I have come to realize that the gathering of love and respect - from others and for myself - has been the real quest of my life.”
"Now we must tend our garden."
Truly, I believe this is the message I want to leave you on. This all started yesterday when I was walking home and stopped in at the library. They have wifi there, and I checked my phone. Someone in my Rush discord server found a picture of a news article that said Neil had passed away, and we all assumed it was another joke article. After a bit of searching, we were wrong. The wave of shock, horror, and despair that wiped over the conversation was something that I could not replicate if I so chose to.
The minute I got home, I got to work on this video. Obviously, if I were to include EVERY worthy Neil Peart moment this video would be over 24 hours long, but I’ve tried my best to shorten it to a mere 30 or so minutes. We must remember this man for all he gave us, both laughter and sorrow. We watched him succeed. We watched him suffer great loss. But most importantly, we watched the best goddamn drummer to ever live doing what he loved.
Rush has and always will hold a great place in my life. If not for Neil’s words, I may not be here today. There have been two points in my life where I contemplated suicide. In both of those instances, Geddy’s angelic voice, Neil’s sympathetic words, and Alex’s wailing guitar were what pulled me through. In a world where it felt like there was no one who felt the struggles I did, Neil proved to me that I was not alone. That I could listen to his music as though I were talking to a therapist and all my worries would wash away, and I thank him for that.
This is my tribute to him. It was thundering outside yesterday; perhaps heaven gave him a chance to play one last time.