Grandpa Jake In Seattle Remembering Kurt Cobain & Elvis

Incoming to my phone this morning from Spencer Jack and Hank Frank's grandpa, who is also my baby brother, Jake.

Jake is currently escaping the warmth of Arizona's Valley of the Sun by enjoying the record breaking heat of the Pacific Northwest.

The text that was attached to this photo asked...

"When were you last here?"

Well.

I am not sure what location, precisely, Jake is referring to with the word "here".

I can see Jake is on a ferry boat, in Elliott Bay. Which would make that the skyline of downtown Seattle behind him. The Space Needle on the far left is a major clue.

If by "here" Jake is asking when I've last been to Seattle, the answer to that would be a couple times during August of 2017.

If by "here" Jake is asking when I've last been on a ferry boat in Elliott Bay, I think I may also know the answer to that question, precisely, even though the date is way back in the previous century.

April 5, 1994, to be exact.

Why would I remember that date?

Well.

On that day Jake's two sons, my favorite nephews Jason and Joey, took me to Seattle where we rode the ferry to Bainbridge Island. While on that ferry Joey saw a big headline in the Seattle Times.

NIRVANA'S COBAIN DEAD

Joey read enough of the story to quickly deduce Kurt Cobain had killed himself. Joey was particularly upset at this news, asking his favorite uncle why Kurt Cobain would do such a thing. I had no answer.

And then Joey and Jason told me something I did not know previously, or had forgotten. That being whilst their cousin Alan was a teacher in, if I remember right, Montesano, he taught Kurt Cobain in 7th grade.

And so this is why I know the date I last rode a Washington ferry.

And on another death of an American music icon note, with the news learned on a Washington ferry.

On August 16, 1977, before Jason, Joey, Spencer Jack and Hank Frank joined the earth's population, I ferried with grandpa Jake from Anacortes to Friday Harbor on San Juan Island, on a product delivery run.

We were not long out of the Anacortes port when we learned Elvis had died. I do not remember if this was learned via a newspaper headline, or an announcement over the public address system. I suspect the latter.

Anyway, I hope this answers Spencer Jack and Hank Frank's grandpa's "When were you last here?" question..