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L2 and I visit Atty George Sofranko. We don't say we will and we don't try to visit George - we do.
George Sofranko is a HUGE fan of 'The Boss'. He's seen a number of concerts and collects Springsteen memorabilia. George has two tickets for the concert next Tuesday (19April) in Pittsburg. George will NOT be going to this concert.
When L2 and I were visiting George last week, the talking topic AGAIN was Bruce Springsteen. L2 showed us how she plays music on her I-Phone. She "called up" Springsteen and the song : Thunder Road came up.
The first verse is :
The screen door slams, Mary's dress waves
Like a vision she dances across the porch as the radio plays
Roy Orbison singing for the lonely
Hey, that's me and I want you only
Don't turn me home again, I just can't face myself alone again
Don't run back inside, darling, you know just what I'm here for
So you're scared and you're thinking that maybe we ain't that young anymore
Show a little faith, there's magic in the night
You ain't a beauty but, hey, you're alright
Oh, and that's alright with me
L2 and I watched as George drifted into the music, came back and said : " You know, you can just see it, you can see her on the porch with her dress waving...
I was thinking of the line : "I just can't face myself alone again..."
Maybe I need to back up-George is in his early 50s. I first met him a few years back when I interviewed him with a crew of folks about an area drug court. At that time, George was in a motorized wheel chair. I always teased him about driving too fast on the sidewalk-REALLY ! George would WIZ by 'my window' almost in a blur ! I also would tease him about the chair to get a smile out of him and make him comfortable . George has been unable to walk for quite some time. George has Spinal Muscular Atrophy Type 3 -he's NOT going to get better.(SMA3, Kugelberg-Welander Disease).
Definition - a genetic disease in which loss of nerve cells in the spinal cord called motor neurons affects the part of the nervous system that controls voluntary muscle movement.
George is now bedridden at an area nursing home.
So back to Bruce and Thunder Road. It wasn't too hard to imagine what George was thinking when he heard the words :
Well now, I ain't no hero, that's understood
All the redemption I can offer, girl, is beneath this dirty hood
With a chance to make it good somehow
Hey, what else can we do now?
Except roll down the window and let the wind blow back your hair
Well, the night's busting open, these two lanes will take us anywhere
We got one last chance to make it real
To trade in these wings on some wheels
Climb in back, heaven's waiting on down the tracks
I'm not sure what he was seeing as he heard the words and looked thru the ceiling- the ceiling over his motorized hospital bed. Maybe he saw something 'out there' that will never be - Maybe he saw himself with "Mary" as she climbed into his car and they took off to parts unknown. I do know that George, all too quickly, came back to his reality-a brilliant mind, a wonderful brain- in a body that doesn't work .
When L2 and I leave George, we always ask him if he wants or needs anything. His response is always the same: "I want a new body..." L2 and I wish we could give it to him.
I know there's a lot of people in this community that know George Sofranko. I also know that George sincerely appreciates visits-long or short. You see, George can't get to you-you need to get to George. Cards are nice-visits are better, MUCH better !
Ok, back to Springsteen and George. Awhile back, an optimistic Atty George Sofranko bought tickets to Springsteen in Pittsburg. George cant go but YOU can. I'm holding two tickets to Tuesday, 19 April's concert. George has authorized L2 and I to give the tickets to whomever. If you're willing to make a donation to Fish Samaritan House in George's name, let me know. L2 and I don't want this to be a bidding war, just fair. Contact me on or off air.
and,btw, spinal muscular atrophy is NOT contagious , LOVE is....
~Louie b.
I was bruised and battered, I couldn't tell what I felt.
I was unrecognizable to myself.
I saw my reflection in a window, I didn't know my own face.
Oh brother are you gonna leave me wastin' away
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