Davy Jones

Heard about the death of Davy Jones today. This is so sad! I remember watching him on the Monkees (he was always my favorite), and listening to him sing. My mom was a big fan of the Monkees, and she enjoyed watching the show when she was a kid... she got me started. I may not have given them the time of day if she had not liked them, 'cause I remember when the show was on "Nick-at-Nite's Blockparty Summer." They showed the commercial for "Monkee Monday's," and I told her, but wasn't too enthusiastic because I had no idea what the show was about. But she got all excited, so I decided I'd give it a chance.

One episode was all it took. I was hooked. I also wasn't really into music until I got into the Monkees. I think I was about 11, so I've been a fan now for about 15 years.

One year for Mother's Day, my brother and I sent Davy Jones a letter and a CD, asking him if he would autograph it for our mom, and send it along to the other Monkees. At the time, I wasn't sure if they communicated with each other on a regular basis, and my brother and I were both pretty young. We figured if anything was done at all, we would just get the CD back from Davy. After a while, we forgot about it. Then one day we got a package from California. It was from Peter Tork. Our request was granted. The CD had traveled to Davy, then Micky, then Peter, and back to us. We hadn't thought at the time to send envelopes (you know how most celebrities say that if you want to get something back, "send a self-addressed stamped envelope"), so we were even more thrilled that they had done it. We also hadn't thought to give them our mom's name, so it was signed to "Rachel and Aaron's mom." When we got it back, we were so excited, we had to give it to her early. We presented the CD to her and her first response was, "I already have this CD." We told her to open it up, and she just started crying. She was so happy and in awe that that had been done for her.

Now that she is gone, that CD is in my possession, and has always been special to us, even more so now. I wish I had been able to see the Monkees as they toured last year, but I wouldn't have gone with anyone else but my mom, and she was too sick last year to be interested in traveling to a concert. We did get to go see them when they toured in 2002, though (just Micky and Davy), and that was enough. She hadn't ever gotten to see them on tour in the 60's, when she was a teenager. So seeing the two of them in 2002 was enough for her. Not just once, but we attended two nights in a row. One in Indiana, that we had traveled for, the second in Michigan, as we were on our way home, we decided to go again. Those two nights were such a thrill!

The Monkees will always remind me of my mother, as the show/music was an interest we both shared. He may be gone, but Davy Jones will never be forgotten.