Dedicated. Soulful. Rockstar. These are the first words that come to mind when I think about the man called John Mayer. I was already familiar with his debut Room for Squares but when I was 16, I was obsessed when he released Continuum. John Mayer spoke to my heart when I listened to his music. I thought he was soulful, gifted, and brilliant at his craft. Although I temporarily boycotted his music for a lengthy season after a memorable and disappointing Rolling Stone cover story I learned about, I eventually put it behind me and remained a fan. Despite his personal life, I can appreciate the amazing music he’s made. I really enjoyed his work Battle Studies, but to this day Continuum remains one of my favorites. It’s awesome from start to finish and worth checking out if you’ve never listened to it before. In fact, get a dose of Continuum here. He’s an artist you just can’t get out of your head. And his guitar skills? Legendary. Check him out sometime.
About a year ago, I had a dream my dad wanted to talk to our family about something serious. I wasn’t sure what he wanted to discuss, but I knew it was something I needed to prepare myself for. Around the time after I had this dream, I remember stopping by my parents place and sensing something was going on that they weren’t telling me. I tried to dismiss what I’d been feeling, but I couldn’t shake it. Something serious was happening. As I returned to my home after visiting them one day, I was in my kitchen washing dishes when a heaviness hit my heart like nothing I’d ever felt before. Something’s wrong with dad. That’s what that dream was about. God, what’s going on? As I continued washing dishes, I started crying and praying. Then in mid-spring, my dad held an unexpected family meeting that would change all our lives forever. He hesitated at first, and as his voice started cracking and he started crying, he said, “Well, I wanted to talk to ya’ll to tell you that I have kidney disea...