'Once you start singing, don't stop!' Chicago's Next Voices columnist writes
I’m M$. B’Havin, a 73-year-old blues singer.
Originally from San Antonio, Texas, I moved to the Chicago area in the '70s. I worked for two Fortune 500 corporations in Chicago, met my husband in Palatine, married in Long Grove, raised our children elsewhere.
In 2015, I was diagnosed with early Stage 1 colon cancer and had surgery to remove a cancerous tumor.
A year later, my husband had heart surgery.
We started to look at each other and our respective ages and began to ask, "Is this all there is?" We started to think about our lost dreams, things we had set aside in our careers — to raise our children and to make sure they received a college education.
Music was the one thing that was consistent in our lives.
Music was the thread that held the tapestry of our lives together — our healing, family, friends and community.
A friend came to visit us in 2018 and wanted to go to Buddy Guy’s Legends.
I live down the street from the club and had never been.
At Legends, my husband and I first became known for our dancing.
Dancing is one of my many passions, as well as poetry, pastel drawings and singing.
First, my husband started jamming on Monday nights. Then, the pandemic hit, and everything
went silent — except for his practicing at home during those dark pandemic days.
Music was our light!
After the 2020 vandalism and looting in the Loop following the killing of George Floyd, our family project was to donate our time to Buddy Guy’s club by painting the sheets of plywood that had been nailed up to protect the club's windows.
My daughter painted those boards with colorful animated characters, and my husband added musical notes and Buddy Guy quotes.
It was a labor of love.
When we returned to “normal” around August 2021, it was so much fun to see our old friends again at Legends.
Then, it hit me: a cancer diagnosis, a pandemic, time was flying off the shelf, and I wanted to rekindle my dreams.
So in February 2023, I stepped out of the shower and onto the stage at Legends.
It wasn’t easy. I mentioned my singing idea to Buddy Guy. I loved the stories that blues music tells.
He said, “Once you start singing, don’t stop!” Then, blues legend Mary Lane heard me sing, and she became my mentor.
A band fell into place, which I call the $exagenarian$ (Sexagenarians.) Definition: an age group of 60- to 69-year-olds. I chose the name because it sounded nasty.
I had three band bookings at Fuller’s Irish Pub in Irving Park in May and a booking at the Marriott Naperville in June.
I’m proof that you can teach an old dog new tricks. Plus, I am living my best life. And singing the blues.