For Jerry, -you- are a living, breathing example of the many lives he's touched. I know I'm not the only one who can say that it was Jerry's crazy love for those drums that got me interested and excited about Blaemire drums. Some of the luckiest people in the world are the ones who have passions in Life. Jerry's joy, dedication and love in what he does is an infectious thing to be around. He got me, he got you, he got a lot of us with it. Jerry can find some peace in the thought that he's touched all our lives in a really positive and wonderful way. What greater gift to give to anyone than to share your loves and passions in Life with them. That's a gift that enriches the Soul and lasts forever.John
I took this quote from Scott's thread, from John, as he totally nailed it about Jerry. I posted this on another forum, so some of you may have already seen this, but wanted to share it here.
I wanted to share my personal story of my friendship with Jerry. Everyone has expressed the same feelings and experiences that I have encountered up close, as our friendship has grown over these last seven years. It all started as a simple PM that I sent Jerry on DS, about some restoration advice. He gave me his phone #, and he said I could call about any questions I had. I thought that was such a classy thing to do.
At around that same time, I saw a picture that Jerry posted, of his restored Blaemire drums. I was mesmerized by the look of the drums, and the ingenious way he had them set-up. I had to pursue some more info on these drums. After meeting him at a DS drum gathering, I saw up close, his passion for drums. It was infectious. Luckily, I live fairly close to him, he invited me to his house, and I was simply blown away by the Blaemire drums. I felt at that moment, that I found the sound that I have always been looking for.... I had to have some of these drums.
In the next few years, Jerry and I had searched for and gathered several Blaemire shells, and I was actually able to help him build my personal kit. While doing this, I was also a student of Jerry's, constantly learning the fine art of drum building. I was "ok" at tuning drums, but watching and learning from Jerry, I am now able to really draw the full potential from a drum. The one thing about the Blaemire shells though, was that they were rare, and very hard to come by. Jerry had always expressed his desire to somehow "recreate" these glorious shells.
Fast forward to the J-M era, and his desire had become reality. With his partner David Martin spinning up the shells in Ohio, then shipping them to California, I was coming over almost every weekend, to help build these incredible drums. While it was a laborious task, the joy and fulfillment felt after completing a drum set or snare was immeasurable. I can remember a few times, while we were dusty and sweaty, Jerry would turn to me and say, "hey man, we're building drums"!
It's been an amazing journey.
I will miss building the drums with Jerry, but I would give it all up to have Jerry's health back. I think what I will miss the most though, is when we were done for the day, and would sit back, drink a beer, and just talk about life. I know Jerry will miss it too, but he recently told me that he accomplished everything he wanted to with the Jenkins-Martin drums, and he is at peace with this.
Thank you for bearing with me on this long post, as I have been having a very hard time dealing with Jerry's illness. These words have been very hard to type, with a lump in my throat, and tears in my eyes.
Jerry...... Love you my brother!
Greg Mendoza
