My buddy Doug unexpectedly passed away a few months ago and we're still reeling from it. Nearly every day I think of something I want to tell him or a video I want to share and I start to call him but then I realize he's gone.
Last night I was talking to my friend Bruce, who was in our immediate circle of friends. We were talking about this really kickass band that Doug was in and that I'd filled in for when their drummer switched over to keyboards.
They/we did some great cover tunes and just nailed them, but what i loved were their original songs. There was one called Mind Control that was a bluesy rocker in 6/8 that has great lyrics and singing, with an ultra catchy singalong chorus, but it was an instrumental called Active Clones that blew my mind and still does to this day. It was a Prog thing, and just as good as anything our favorite bands put out.
Bruce and I were talking about those tunes and how cool they were. We were going over the history of the band and talking about who played what. There was one thing we couldn't remember and I said "I'll have to call Doug and find ou...damn." Bruce does it too. Maybe one day it'll fully sink in that he's gone.
Anyway we were telling Doug stories and I was reminding him of one of the most incredible ones, but to my surprise he'd never heard it. I was happy to tell it to him and it blew his mind too.
He got quiet for a second after I told him, and then said "Wow." Maybe you had to be there but it was freaky. Like so many of my stories I've told it here before, but it's been a long time and I'll get a kick out of it until the day i die.
Doug went through several episodes of major sleep deprivation. I've been through it a few times myself but not quite to the same degree thank God. The first time it happened to me I didn't know what was going on exactly, but after the comedown and after I realized what it was I studied it as much as I could so I could learn about it and prevent it from happening again.
Without going into how it works and all, I can say that it's dangerous. You get a bit of a giddy high at first and you feel great, but then the effects get much worse if it isn't stopped, including mania, loss of motor skills, delusional behavior and complete loss of touch with really.
You might think you're Jesus or that the TV is talking to you. You can have visual and auditory hallucinations just like an acid trip. Without sleep it's just like being drunk. You can really hurt yourself. It can be cured almost overnight by simply getting a good night's sleep, but with all the adrenaline going through your body that can be tough.
The first time it happened to Doug it was bad. Some amazing things happened but he had to be babysitted, so we all took turns. He had some injuries from it, and he's lucky it wasn't worse.
It's not a sign of mental illness although it mimics it. It's basically temporary insanity, and it goes away if the person can find a way to sleep again. It will happen to anyone who can't sleep.
I've babysat several other people who went through it. I must say it's fascinating but again it's very dangerous. When someone is in a fragile and delusional frame of mind and they say something crazy, you have to be careful with what you say. You can't just shoot it down like normal because they can become really agitated, when you need to try to keep them calm.
If they say for example "I'm Jesus," you can't say something like "No you're not, dumbass." That would be contraindicated. You still want to try to steer them toward reality, but you have to be gentle with it.
One night I was over at Doug's keeping an eye on him. His brother Tim was coming over in the morning and he was talking about it. "Tim's coming over tomorrow." "That's great man. It'll be good to see him."
He carried on talking about it excitedly. "It's in the Bible" he said. "Umm, I don't think so" I said. "Yes it is" he insisted. "I'll show you." "Okay then, show me."
He picked up his Bible, closed his eyes and tilted his head up. I was thinking that maybe when he saw that it wasn't really in the Bible it might bring him down a peg, but I was in for a surprise.
He started randomly flipping back and forth through the pages, with his eyes still closed. Finally he stopped on a page. He pointed his finger up and with a grand flourish he brought it down in the middle of the page. I was looking over his shoulder. I looked down and directly above his fingernail were the words "our brother Timothy."
My jaw dropped. "See? I told you." "You're right Doug." What else could I say? There it was in black and white. There's no way he could've set it up. He wasn't capable of doing anything like that. I was floored, and I was wondering how staggering the odds would have to be for that to happen. He looked at me with a look of satisfaction and I looked at him in disbelief.
The entire verse, Hebrews 13:23, KJV says: "Know ye that our brother Timothy is set at liberty; with whom, if he come shortly, I will see you." And there you have it. It wasn't talking about Tim coming over to see Doug, but there it was...brother Timothy, coming shortly to see you. I'll be danged. The Universe can flip you out sometimes.
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