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Homage to Purple Reign Purple Rain

Hours after the news of Prince passing my daughter and I decided a trip to Paisley Park was in order. We just wanted to pay homage to the legend. I knew some people would have stopped by already, but little did we know how big it would get. And I can honestly say, 8 months after his passing and his loss is still felt in his hometown. Will we ever stop grieving?

First of all, we did not plan well for this. I am handicapped and brought nothing, no cane, no water, nothing. My daughter dropped me as close as police would allow. Yes, they were already blocking traffic in the area. And I didn't understand why, yet. She dropped me by the police barricades and parked 2 blocks away. I waited for her. 

We resumed walking, up a slight hill. You can see in the page above what we saw on arrival. Several news stations from around the country no less, were beginning to set up. Presumably for the evening news. People had been dropping off purple balloons, pictures, flowers and other mementos all morning and afternoon. It was probably around 4:30 when we got there. 

It rained briefly. None of us cared. Somewhere Prince made that happen and a rainbow appeared over Paisley Park. Bone chilling moment. Wouldn't have missed it for anything. My daughter happened to own a raspberry beret. That is now her ringtone too, the song. 

Everyone, and I mean everyone, was quiet and respectful. We were all in shock! The police seemed just as shocked. They just let the crowd do what it needed. Some sang gently. As we were leaving, the party could start! - port-a-potty deliveries!!!

We went to dinner and then drove back around the area, truthfully, we got messed up on the roads. But by 10 at night, a stage had been erected, with lights. People were packed together. Music booming over the area. No one cared. No one would sleep tonight. RIP Purple Reign!


Some of these images I gathered from the web, some I had taken. Purple ruled the Twin Cities for the weekend. He would have been proud of us. I do so remember Graffiti Bridge. Used to ride my bike or drive under it. Was always kind of dirty and nasty area.

My favorite homage to him was Corvettes - Baby that was way too fast! Simple and to the point.

Okay, now for some fun facts:

My mother knew the brother of one of his bandmates and former producer - David Z, quite well actually. My mother also saw him at the Cub Foods in Minnetonka in the early 90s shopping on a Saturday Night with his gal.

My mother-in-law knew his sister back in the 1960/70s. She worked for Hennepin County Social Services. Enough said about that.

And I toured Paisley Park, shortly after it was built. It might have been around 1990? My friends brother worked day security there. He took us on a "not official tour". And since there is no one to come after me for this now. I did touch the yellow guitar, even after I was warned by him not to. I had to. It had to be done! And I have several friends who attended parties there over the years. I never wanted to, wasn't my thing.

Its funny how many people had connections to Prince. Kind of like the Kevin Bacon thing except special to the Twin Cities. Even my daughters photographers for her senior pictures had been interviewed for a national news site because they were at his last party, days before his passing.

2016 has been a tough year of celebrity passings. It started harsh enough (David Bowie, Alan Rickman and more) and just kept going. We still have 10 days left. Don't wanna think about it. 2016 needs to take a timeout!

Oh, artsy details: these page were created using the Project Life App by Becky Higgins LLC and the Rain card collection.

Thanks for stopping by!

Keep being creative, Sandy

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