"Tag up and Go!"

April Motley died last weekend, April was 51 and where April was not one of my best friends she was a friend, in that constellation of people of people I had shared something unique—one of those folk who for one reason or another always kept showing up in my life. I believe April was part of my Karass, the term Vonnegut coined to denote a group of people who, often unknowingly, are working together to do God's will. Now I don't know about God's will but we seemed to keep running into each other.
I first met, really met April when I was one on the principals of the 2^nd West Acting Company; a class put together by another friend Lori B. and myself and held at the Utah Independent Living Center, where I worked at the time. Actually Lori was the real drive behind starting the company and I really think she populated its actors with April, myself and a few others who could not say “no”. April wrote one play I know of but was always ready to be part of the play of scene. April and I were local political activists. April because she actually wanted to be, because sher believed in the causes she put herself on the line fore—where I was on the line for the paycheck first and the commitment second. April was a believer.

Over the first years of the acting company's life the company moved from the independent living center to Art Access. It was during this time I learned that April was also an artist fabricator sculpting in metals. She had numerous creations in shows of Art Access and the annual Christmas sale of that organization. I believe one of April's specialties were kaleidoscopes—beautiful hand crafted pieces which were works of art to look at as well as through. I would characterize April's art as being 'high end'. I would have loved to see her do her art full time to the point where she would have been able to support herself with her craft but I don't she she was able to have ever gotten enough exposure for her pieces to sell plus April was caught in the American tragedy of being a creative, energetic women with a disability in America. She was penalized by the benefits system which she was forced to survive on—it was difficult for April to have enough raw materials to to keep her product line current with demand.

April's passing has had a significant impact on me. April died of heart failure. A massive heart attract, in the night, as she slept. I am older then April was by nine years. I am a person, also, with a significant disability who is not in the best of shape with some major self defeating even life threatening habits I need to correct to stretch my time on this dust ball as long as possible. As I wrote on my friend Jerry Johnston's Face Book, this morning, it's time to 'tag up' on base and play it safe a few days before sealing the next base of life.