It all started in August, yet it seems so long ago; I was so happy then. Lots were goin' on for me that day. My freshly dyed shirts were ready to go on sale that night, I had promised to help Phil with his veggie burritos and I still had to warm up for a night of dancing. After all, The first night of the annual fall tour was always the best night of the year!


No! She had to stop thinking about it, after all that it got so hazy, like a bad trip. It couldn't have really happened, not to her, not to them. But she couldn't help herself.


Hastily, I put on my new T-shirt with the words "golden road" skillfully dyed on the back in bright rich colors, on the front, simply a rose. It was beautiful and I knew it, my best ever. Complementing it with a long black skirt and my favorite sandals, I looked like the perfect 'head everyone said I was. Grabbing my guitar case I left the tent and was off to meet destiny.


Rose looked down at her guitar case. What once seemed gracefully aged was now cracked and worn, old. The artistic bumper stickers were almost completely faded away. Flowers were beginning to wilt, skulls were cracking, ever dancing Jerry Bears were stopping to take a breather. Thoughtful phrases, once seeming so important, had almost completely faded out of mind. "Leave the bombs to Phil" and "Don't blame me, I voted for Jerry!" They were so out of place now. It was all so sad, nevertheless she kept writing . . .


Tripping over dogs and people I made my way across the campground, but not too fast, no member of the family ever made it across the grounds very fast. Because almost immediately, I was bombarded by hugs and hellos. This life was the greatest! But nothing was to compare with what was to happen today. For today I was going to hang out with Jerry Garcia and the Grateful Dead!

Thanks to my mother (who was a long time friend of Pigpen) I would even be able to tune up with them, but that wasn't the best part. Not one other living soul knew it, but my life long dream was to write songs for my idols Robert Hunter and Jerry Garcia.

Ever since I was little, I was told that I was named after Robert Hunter's song "Ramble on Rose." Where most children were put to sleep with "Mary had a little lamb" and "Hickory dickory doc," I was put to bed with "Terrapin Station," "Dark Star" and the like. I even had a gift from the band, I had Jerry Garcia's first acoustic guitar. Tonight I would finally have my chance. "Psychedelic Roses" was the song and the sky was the limit!