Today, is something a little different. Usually, you’ll find posts by my mom here, where she fills virtual pages with her beautiful and poignant thoughts relating to my late brother, selflessly pouring out the innermost parts of her soul to share even for a moment the nature of her grief with you. She does this because she has (surprise surprise) a good heart, and I hope very much that I am inheriting that, and learning to emulate it.
My name is Anna, and I’m Joe’s younger sister, the youngest of the Fischer clan. Joe’s passing has affected us all in intricately different ways, and for myself, has brought me face to face with the fact that I lost more than a brother on Thanksgiving day, one year ago—
The world lost an artist.
My brother died leaving dozens and dozens of songs and poems unfinished, unreleased, and unknown. I’ve been combing through his projects, finding dozens of things I’d never heard before, or that he’d neglected to mention (in true Joe fashion) and it’s as exciting as it is frustrating. Right now I’m staring at a list of 43 unfinished projects, and I’m sure there are more that I haven’t found yet. And lately, I’ve found myself thinking that they shouldn’t be forgotten, or overlooked, or lost as relics of an untimely death.
They were meant to be heard. They were meant to make the world just a little bit brighter, to turn the world slowly back to the Truth and Beauty that surrounds us. To encourage us forward in the darkness.
And so, I found myself thinking that something should be done about it.
This is all just a really very roundabout way to let you know that you haven’t heard the last of Joe’s music. I’ve rambled on for the better part of a page, just to tell you those unfinished projects won’t be unfinished for much longer. My parents and close friends have been wonderfully kind and supportive of my dream to use the next few years of my life to complete what Joe started, and finish all of his unfinished music, and I thought it important to let the community that has given us so much love and support from the very beginning in on the wonderful project I’m embarking on. Your empathy and comfort have touched all of us profoundly, and I’m looking forward to sharing with you the gift Joe wanted you to have all along—
His music.
I’m in the process of re-making Joe’s room into a functional recording studio, and assembling the resources I need in order to write, record, arrange, and mix Joe’s songs. So many of you have offered yourselves as resources already, and I want you to know it means so very much to me, to be so surrounded with love. Thank you for giving your hearts so freely.
I’ll be posting more updates (and music!) on the blog soon, and I’m excited for this to be a beginning, rather than an end.
-Anna
