] "Ty is now free to tour the world," band manager Paul ] Wollnough told mourners at Corner House Christian Church ] in Hubbard, 60 miles southeast of Cleveland. ] Some of the hundreds in attendance wore ribbons ] emblazoned with "Rock on, Ty." As they filed into the ] church, brief laughter interrupted tears and sniffles as ] a recent picture appeared on a screen above an altar of ] Longley, 31, and his sister, Audrey Dinger, grinning for ] the camera with their cheeks stuffed to bursting with ] grapes. ] The Rev. Jim Burks, related to Longley by marriage, said ] that whenever Longley couldn't make it to Ohio and ] western Pennsylvania from Los Angeles for holidays, he ] would spend his day delivering peanut-butter-and-jelly ] sandwiches to the homeless in Venice Beach. ] "His heart was as big as his hair," Burks said, quoting ] Longley's mother. ] Longley joined Great White about four years ago. None of ] the four surviving band members attended his service. I had dinner in West Warwick on Friday night. And even though I REALLY REALLY wanted to, we did not drive past the ruins of The Station. Although we did drive past the "Station Fire Family Resource Center", which is being housed in an abandoned car dealership. Warwick is just sad now.. flags at half mast, signs and ribbons everywhere. One of the guys my boyfriend works with escaped the fire, but two of his friends did not. It's still all anyone talks about around here, everyone knows someone who was there, it seems. I still sort of want to see the scene. Is that wrong? His heart was as big as his hair??? |