Back in the 60s when life was simpler we used to call into the local radio station and ask the disc jockey to dedicate a song to somebody special. The other day my Appalachian American friend Helo in Liverpool, Pennsylvania requested that Saturday Night Live at the Oldies play the Gordon Lightfoot song Cotton Jenny for Kimmy, his beloved partner in time.

Helo, as in helicopter, would be eating asphalt without Kimmy by his side.

Known to his one percenter motorcycle club brothers as one righteous bearded tattooed former U.S. Marine survival specialist, Helo knows the value of freedom, loyalty and fighting for what he believes in. Like the man with the good heart in the song who loves going home for supper with Cotton Jenny after a hard shift working in the mill, Helo celebrates the simple pleasures and treasures in life, priceless gemstones of existence too many people overlook until it’s too late.

Life’s too short.

Reality offers no guarantees.

But we can increase our chances of happiness or decrease the odds for peace of mind by the way we live, just like that grateful working man in the mill in Gordon Lightfoot’s ode to Cotton Jenny.

So this song goes out to you, Kimmy.

From Helo with love.