RONNIE JAMES DIO 

@OfficialRJDio In the Medina Ball room in Minnesota as i drove by i noticed dio was playing that night . so i had time to check it out . im not much for front row at shows . i kinda like to be off to the side somewhere . at this show you could stand behind the stage where the road gear flight boxes where all set out to give a kinda make shift place to get off the stage . that was perfect for me so i stood their with maby 30 other people. ronnie came off stage in the middle of a song back to where i was standing he wasn't very happy with something or another seemed rather annoyed . then he turn'd around and looked at us all standing there . he walked over and looked straight at me and kinda signaled me to approach him . so i did . he had this smirk on his face and said may i see what's in your right pocket please . i kinda smirked and said no ronnie i keep them in my left pocket as i pulled out my guitar picks to show him . he pointed his finger at me and said 'i knew it ' 'i knew it' and he asked me what i was doing with them . and briefly asked me if he could have 1 . i told him i'm just doing what i can . he replied make sure this is what you want to do . it isn't all what it seems . you have a choice to make on your future . those choices can change the world around you . do you know any of my songs ? at that point i looked up at the stage and looked back at him after about 15 seconds silence i replied unfortunately yes . can you do this ? i said yes . then he asked would you do this . i replied here and now ? no . 'good answer' he he replied . then he led on to say if this is something you know in your heart that you would want to do this you let me know when your ready . you do know how to find me . i'll give you this pick back when you stand on my stage with me . right about the time ronnie was touring the last tour he did with black sabbath and started to feel ill i was ready for that show . i spent endless hours making sure that every note was where it belonged on every album so when i got there id be able to give him the best ride i knew how . unfortunately that day never came due to his passing . i'm not sure where my guitar pic ended up . i'll probably never know . but i did find out he collected pic's i think maby the one's he collected where from people like me . i don't know how he could pick me out of a crowd of people like he did but i;m sure i'm not the only one . ever since his passing the guitar feel's so empty . when you study someones music your entire life and that life moves on one day you realize that you have nothing more to come from the source that made you who you are in a musical way . i know that feeling this way is not what any musician would want anyone to feel . especially ronnie . as we all found out the impact was world wide . i wasn't alone by any means . to see just about every band i knew had something to tribute ronnie with . it was something that i can never recall seeing in the passing of any person i've ever knew . all i can say now to my old friend Ronald James Padavona/dio, is thank you . maby some day i'll still take that stage . till then i'll make sure i'm ready when i see you in another time . even today i still have a hard time going through the material . may take a few more years to get back to where i can tolerate the thought's as i'm playing it all . and some are sacred that i'll probably set aside just in my own way keeping thing's the way they where. .and also bless you wendy ..