Then 19-year-old guitar phenomenon Jason Becker performs in Japan with his band Cacophony in April 1989. /YouTube
Most people accept the emotional power of love. There is less acceptance of the physical power of love.
One of the benefits of working second shift is listening to Canadian Broadcasting Corporation programming on New Hampshire Public Radio during my drive home. When or where else in America would I have been able to listen to an extraordinary archive-edition CBC interview with musician Jason Becker?
In 1989, Becker was 19 and destined for music stardom. The guitar virtuoso had already made an international tour with his band, Cacophony, and had signed a contract to be David Lee Roth's new guitarist.
After the teen suffered cramps in one of his legs for a couple months, his parents convinced him to see a doctor. When the cramping worsened, he was diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, also known as Lou Gehrig's disease.
Becker lost his stunning guitar skills to ALS within months. Within a year, he could barely move. Doctors said he had two to five years to live.
Becker is not only still alive but also still making music, communicating and composing with an eye-movement alphabet created by his father, Gary.
There were two particularly insightful exchanges about love in the CBC interview:
CBC: You have a lot of love around you, a lot of people that are quite exceptional including ... your dad, Gary. How important was that for being able to not just survive this long, because they obviously have taken good care of your health, but also ... to play music?
Becker: It is everything. Love is so important for living and caring about life.
CBC: You say you feel lucky. Can you explain why it is that you feel that way?
Becker: Not moving sucks, but being able to have all of the love of my friends and family and to be able to continue doing what I love; it really is the purpose of life.
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