The Chase
?I’ve had to run, I’ve had to crawl.
Been rich as a king, had nothing at all.
Still raising hell, tearing down walls.
I know where I stand, I’m learning to fall.?
From ?Learning to Fall? A Song Written by Eric Lowen
Listening to the radio this week I was reminded of a week in my life twenty years ago.
Friday June 17, 1994 probably started off as a normal day for most Americans, but it wouldn?t end that way. I was in Seattle for some kind of a meeting, something to do with homecare pharmacy I think. The meeting ended on Friday but I had decided to stick around until Sunday and do some sight- seeing. So I rented a car and started looking for things to do. Through a local paper I found out that a band I liked, Lowen and Navarro, was playing at a club called the Backstage. Just a couple of days before I left to go Seattle I saw them play at Wolf Trap in Vienna Virginia. Before the show I found Eric Lowen walking around the Wolf Trap grounds and introduced myself and we talked a bit.
The show at the Backstage started really late and since I didn?t know the area and had nothing better to do, I thought I would scout out the place so I would know how to get there later that night. I found the club and went inside, they had just finished their sound check and Lowen greeted me as I walked in but then immediately launched into this ?man have you been watching the TV?………….OJ Simpson is on the 405 with the police chasing him??its crazy!?
I went back to my hotel and watched along with about 95 million other Americans, the rest of the events that unfolded that evening and countless replays of what had occurred earlier. OJ Simpson and the White Ford Bronco, may be the most famous police chase ever witnessed and recorded.
Later that night I went back to the Backstage, watched the show, had an after show Coca Cola with the band and another fan from Annapolis who was in Seattle that weekend too.
The OJ Simpson drama would play out over the next sixteen month?s as the trial was televised and America continued to watch. I remember sitting in a board meeting in the glass enclosed conference room of the company I worked for at the time and watching the staff spill into the hallway shouting the news through the glass when OJ Simpson was found not guilty.
I continued to be a big fan of Lowen and Navarro, catching them at the Birchmere in Alexandria, or the Barns at Wolftrap, or wherever they played in the DC area.
In 2004 Eric Lowen began his own chase for life as he was diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), or Lou Gehrig?s Disease. ALS is a progressive neurodegenerative disease that affects nerve cells in the brain and the spinal cord ultimately leading to death, there is no cure. He continued to tour, as his disease progressed he would do shows in his power wheelchair and with the help of his physical therapist. In December of 2008 they put out their last studio CD called ?Learning to Fall.? The last time I saw them was at the Birchmere, and in fact their last live performance together was at the Birchmere on June 6, 2009. We had tickets to that show but decided not to go.
On March 23rd 2012 Eric?s run for his life ended and he died of complications from ALS.
If you have about eight minutes here is a link to a somewhat moving video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oeaO6TvGX4w
And if you are interested in some good music and supporting The Eric Lowen Trust and two major ALS charities: Augie’s Quest and The ALS Association’s Greater Los Angeles Chapter; here is a link to a CD where the proceeds will go to benefits these organizations.
http://www.lownav.com/keep-the-light-alive.php
So like the question I heard on the radio this week that made me recall all this, where were you during ?the chase? twenty years ago?..do you remember?
Thanks and have a great weekend!
Curt Christiansen
Chief Operating Officer
Sport and Spine Rehab
[email protected]
