Originally Posted by
EagleInKansas
I think part of the reason these arguments become so emotional is that each side can feel the other's pain. I can relate to those who think Glenn's death should have ended the Eagles. Until a resumption was announced, I believed that any band who performed songs without their original singer or singers lacked legitimacy. I never expected it to happen to my favorite band, which is far too mild a term to describe what the Eagles mean to me.
I must admit I have been in denial, and it's lingering. I don't really want it to go away, because then I would again have to confront depression and, eventually, acceptance. The days and months after Glenn's death were some of the darkest of my life, almost as sad as the days and months after my mother died. I had to say goodbye to someone I never met but whom I loved. I couldn't listen to the Eagles much because I was trying to wrap my head around the reality that they no longer existed.
I didn't discover the Eagles, the Eagles discovered me. My earliest memories are of playing The Long Run album on my grandmother's record player. I've known all the words to all the songs since I could speak in complete sentences. The band shaped my personality. I'm loyal and I love unconditionally and I am all in on my passions because of the Eagles. Every time I hear one of their songs, it's like the first time. Their concerts are pure euphoria.
I appreciate all of you, even through our disagreements, for being Eagles fans. It's a bond that, even though we're strangers, connects us all, and I am grateful for that. There is nothing I love talking about more than the Eagles. I am very much an introvert, but I'll break into conversations about the band at their concerts and share my enthusiasm with anyone who will listen.
All of us loved Glenn Frey, myself included. I remember driving with my mom and sister to an outlet music store in central Ohio and purchasing "Strange Weather" on audio tape. I remember listening to "Soul Searchin'" in the back room of my one-floor house while watching Saturday afternoon baseball on mute. I remember singing "The Heat is On" at a church lock-in 20-plus years ago.
A new Eagles era is comforting and healing for me. Maybe that is a selfish viewpoint, but the Eagles have always been there when I needed to feel better. I saw my last Eagles show with my mom on October 20, 2010. They didn't tour again until HOTE in 2013, and by then my mom had passed away. But I was at the first HOTE show in Louisville, and life sort of felt OK again.
I don't begrudge anyone for shunning this era of the Eagles, and I hope no one begrudges me for needing it. This time I need healing from Glenn's death. He died almost three years to the day as my mom, just five days apart. Quite frankly, this is an easier goodbye than discovering the news of Glenn's death on Twitter and trying to process the end six months after I watched the penultimate HOTE show in Arkansas. I'm not sure I would have ever truly processed the end of the Eagles I knew without Deacon and the new era.
I know this won't last forever, and I know it's not the same. It sucks that I can't talk about the upcoming shows with the majority of the people on this board, but I can still enjoy and even love them for what they are. I know I really will have to say goodbye eventually, but for now the Eagles -- the band -- are alive, which means Glenn's spirit remains and his memory is alive, too.