Hello, my sweeties. Let me toss an idea out to you. I have lists of famous people to channel divided into these groups:
- Pop culture icons (which I’m doing now)
- The infamous (and downright evil)
- Historic figures and leaders
- Religious figures and leaders
- Famous artists, scientists, writers and composers
- Famous animals (Rin-Tin-Tin, Secretariat, etc)
- Various legendary creatures like a Bigfoot, an alien, etc.
To keep things fresh, I could mix things up a bit by sampling from other categories from time to time. Overall, I have 250 on my list, so this will take a while. I’d like to get series of books out so I can’t delay the first category too much by interviewing from the other categories, but I want y’all to be entertained and enlightened too!
And now, Mr. Buddy Holly!
Me: Who’s next, Erik?
Erik: Buddy Holly. I’ll go get him.
(Erik disappears)
Jamie: Aw, I was pitching for Heath Ledger, but whatever.
Me: He’s on the list, so no worries, Girl.
(Erik returns with Buddy)
Erik (teasingly): You don’t always get what you want, Jamie!
Jamie (laughing): I know!
Buddy: It’s nice to talk to a fellow Texan.
Me: Hi, Buddy! I’m so glad to have you here. How are you?
Buddy: Thank you, ma’am. I’m doing really well.
Me: Good, good. Erik, do you want to ask some questions first?
Jamie (giggling): Erik’s back on my countertop.
Me: Of course! C’mon, Erik, ask Mr. Holly a question!
Erik: No, no, no. Hit it, Mom. You’re doing good.
Erik (to Buddy): I really like your work, your songs. Everything of yours is so contagious.
Me: Okay, well, I guess we’ll get started then. What beliefs did you have about death and the afterlife before you crossed over, and did those beliefs change afterwards?
Buddy: A lot of it changed when I crossed over. You have to think about the time period when I died. Back then, there wasn’t this whole movement of spirituality. Really, the only choices we had were our religious choices.
Me: Yeah.
Buddy: As you might know, I grew up right in the Baptist line.
Me: Yeah, typical Texan.
Buddy: There is good and there is bad, and, ma’am, I have to tell you, before I—
Jamie: Oh, he did crash. That’s right.
(Long pause)
Jamie: Aw, I forgot about that. It was a plane.
Me: That’s right.
Buddy: Ma’am, you have to know that before I crashed, I wasn’t a very clean man, not in the terms of what the fifties was giving you.
Jamie: He straightens up. He’s got this tie on. It’s really thin and kind of long. It covers the button on his pants. That’s how long it is.
Buddy: You know I drank some. Now, I was much cleaner than the other people on my bus, but I felt like I was having too much fun. I really wanted to be home instead of being on the road all the time. I almost feel that it was a bit of a punishment to leave the earth so soon when I still had so much to offer. In fact, in no way did I feel like I was ready for death, nor did I feel like it was the right time for me to die. You know, I had a child on the way.
Jamie: Really? You were expecting a child? So, your wife was pregnant?
Buddy: Yes ma’am.
Me: Aw, I’m so sorry.
Jamie: He’s so well-mannered.
Me: Of course. Southern hospitality.
Jamie: It’s so nice.
Me: It is. So, Buddy, what was your transition like for you? Was it painless, I’m hoping?
Buddy: We were quite aware that we were going to crash. I remember it being very cloudy, so the visibility wasn’t very good at all. Of course I’m not driving. I’m in the back. You know we got on that plane because of our bus. The bus was broken down.
Me: Oh, I think I remember hearing that.
Buddy: You get to thinking you have something very glamorous and very rich, so you’re very comfortable with the idea that you had enough money to do something of this nature. So, death was not on my mind at the time. And then, all of a sudden, I felt the pressure on my body. That’s about the last thing I remember. I thought for sure God was sending me to Hell for the choices I had made to serve my music more than I served my family, to serve my music more than I served my God.
Me: Aw. (pause) So, then you transitioned to the afterlife. Can you describe your surroundings and thoughts after you realized where you were?
Jamie: He kind of laughs and giggles.
(Pause)
Jamie: (whispering) He’s got a really big forehead.
Me (whispering): Shhh. Jamie, don’t’ say that. You’re going to hurt his feelings.
Jamie (bursting out in laughter): I know!
Me: Jamie!
Jamie: You know how you look at one feature on somebody when you’re talking to them? That’s the one that kind of sticks out.
Me: Yeah. So, go on, Buddy.
Buddy: So when I died, that wasn’t the case. God embraced me, and I don’t mean God as a physical being, but I could feel the love around me. I couldn’t see anything, though, like my eyes were closed, like I was going to sleep, but I could feel God all around me. That was the undying, unconditional love surrounding me, telling me that it would be all right. It’d be all right. At that moment, I knew I wasn’t in Hell.
Me: Mmm. Do you think it was your destiny to die when and how you did?
Buddy: Well, it is a little creepy to think that all of the choices I made led up to that one step of getting on that plane. In my lifeline, there was a chance to —I think you call them “exit moments.”
Me: Yes, or exit points.
Buddy: So, yes, this was an exit moment of mine, but it didn’t have to take place.
Me: Okay, so that was only one of several exit points for you?
Buddy: Yes, but because of my death, it also was the death of my child, my son.
Me: Why?
Buddy: My wife grieved so hard that the child was never born.
Me: Aw.
Buddy: So, I have my son with me, which makes me happy.
Me: Ah, that’s nice.
Buddy: But not only do I feel regret for leaving my wife to serve my music, I also feel such pain and regret that she had to suffer the loss of both a husband and a child.
Me: Oh, yeah.
Buddy: She was left with no one, when she was about to have it all.
(Long poignant pause)
Me: Why did you design that as one of your exit points, then?
Buddy: Because I think my life was getting so out of hand.
Me: Okay. So it was like a reset button.
Buddy: Yeah. I think a big scare would have been just fine. This was a bit more than a big scare.
Me: I suppose so!
Y’all don’t forget to use all the social connect buttons at the end of every entry!! I’d really appreciate it.
- Buddy Holly
