Corey's Comfort Rock

My son-in-law, Corey Mills was invited to the Blue Bench Session the same day that we photographed our first participant Jenny.  Corey is a truly gifted educator, wrestling coach, history buff, voracious reader, and all in all, just a wonderful person.
Corey brought a beautiful, smooth, river rock as his object to feature.
The rock, of course, has an attached story. Corey’s story actually made me tear up.

A few years back, when Corey was in his early twenties, he worked as a coffee roaster at an independent coffee company. Corey’s boss was a young man by the name of David Hemmingway. Even though Dave was only a few years older than Corey, all the employees regarded Dave as an “older brother” type mentor in many worldly matters. Dave was also a jazz drummer, who performed locally throughout Providence, Rhode Island. 

As Corey was interested in learning to appreciate Jazz, - and at Dave’s suggestion - Corey went out and purchased an album by the great bassist/composer, Charles Mingus. He didn’t know it at the time, but he had purchased one of Mingus’ very esoteric final albums. Corey also purchased the very avant-garde John Coltrane album entitled, A Love Supreme. 

​When Corey reported back to Dave that he was having some difficulty understanding jazz based on these two albums they both enjoyed a laugh as Corey was informed by Dave that these albums are still being studied by jazz aficionados as intensely complex and challenging works of art. Dave suggested to Corey that he should start with some simpler, more traditional, melodic jazz offerings.

David Hemingway would pass away from testicular cancer at the very young age of 33. Corey had the opportunity to say goodbye to his friend just days before David died. 

​At Dave’s memorial service, rocks from Purgatory Chasm State Reservation were passed out as remembrances of Dave’s life. Dave’s hometown was in Sutton MA., and Purgatory Chasm is where Dave would often go for solitude and relaxation.
When tensions rise in Corey’s life, and stress begins to takes over, Corey finds himself holding the special rock for comfort. With Dave’s rock in hand he is reminded of the importance of enjoying the moment, the importance of being kind, and the importance of focusing on the needs of others. 

I would suspect that Dave also helped Corey discover the breathtaking beauty in John Coltrane’s, A Love Supreme. Understanding Coltrane’s dedication to God begins by making a lifetime commitment to appreciate all the gifts that have been Divinely given to us, each and every day. That’s a gift that we can truly see in Corey Mills.

John & Ann Marie Ford

P.S. Corey is also a well loved uncle to his nephew, Johnny. They love to get goofy together.