Eva Cassidy
February 2, 1963 – November 2, 1996

I miss you most of all, my darling, when autumn leaves start to fall.
Ten years ago, my roommate listened to a piece on NPR about an unknown singer and how her music had spread and touched so many after her premature death to cancer. Sarah promptly bought the CD and before I knew it, Eva Cassidy’s music had crept into the crevices of my soul. We must have listened to the CD every day for 8 months. Waly, Waly played as we studied, Blues in the Night was belted loudly during times of frustrations at the opposite sex and Songbird was instantly declared as the song for future weddings.

And I love you, I love you, I love you
Like never before
I’ve bought every CD of hers, even the one that she produced when she was part of a progressive rock band. Her music inspired me to write Gilmore Girls derivative fiction. Her voice comforted me when friendships dissolved, when my heart was broken.

I see friends shaking hands, saying, “how do you do?”
But they’re really saying, “I love you”
It’s the 16th anniversary of Eva’s death. Fourteen years since we lost her voice and sweetness. The last album of lost and forgotten tracks was released two years ago. Her voice is frozen, preserved in digital immortal, so we will never have to forget

We were like children
Laughing for hours
The joy you gave me lives on and on.