He is still one of my biggest loves. Talk about people coming into your life for a reason, a season or a lifetime … I don’t remember life without Bob. In my earliest memories of music Bob Marley was there, thanks to my uncles Reuv and Bam. I still remember exactly where I was and who I was with when I heard he had passed – I was with my sister and cousins and ironically one of the uncles who unintentionally introduced me to this lifelong love. We were walking along Lowlands Road. Someone riding by on a bicycle told my uncle. I was one month short of turning 8 years old. I still remember. That’s the impact Bob has had on my life.

As I wrote this I was of course listening to Bob. Not just listening, but singing, chanting and skanking too. It’s unfortunate that I was also working (yes, actually working) and had to periodically interrupt my session to sit calmly in my chair as I participated in virtual meetings. I really just wanted to blast Bob so my neighbours could hear and continue skanking.

So many reasons. At every stage of my life, through joy, love, pain, sorrow, frustration, revolution, rebellion, celebration … Bob was there – is there – like a cornerstone. If I’d had a child their name would be Nesta. That poor child 😆.

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Bob, a man for all seasons who was/is ahead of his time, apropos of his time, of this time, and of my time.

The biggest chunk of my music collection dedicated to a single artiste/group is Bob Marley & the Wailers. When I was a teenager and now. I wanted to learn to play the guitar so I could play Redemption Song. That hasn’t happened yet, but it still could. What’s one more thing on my to-do list?

Imagine how I felt on my first trip to Jamaica in December 1993 when I visited 56 Hope Road. It felt like part of me had finally made it home. Amazingly I have no photos of that event! Truly one of the greatest mysteries of my life 🤔 and certainly a sign that I must visit again so I can fix that anomaly. I’m yet to make the journey to Nine Mile, but I’ve no doubt that too will happen. Perhaps on my next visit to Jamaica I’ll go to both places and complete that circle.

Feb 6, 1945 – May 11, 1981

May 11, 2021 … The lifetime goes without saying 😊.

Here are 11 selections from the feast that elevated me and satisfied my soul today:

Bob, uh soon come! ❤️