“I decided to end it,” said Dave Dease. He wasn’t speaking of a career choice or even a relationship, but of his own life. “Things had been going downhill all summer,” he said. Not only had he just lost his job and gotten out of a bad relationship, he was fighting cancer and alcoholism. “Everything just seemed to be building and building,” he said. “I came home one day, put my 7-month-old bulldog in the yard and drove my car in the garage. Well it ends up, she got out of the fence, something she had never done before.” Jesse, Dave’s American bulldog puppy, is credited with saving the Willernie man’s life last August. “It was like a miracle,” said Patty Dease, Dave’s sister and co-owner of Earthway Farm near South Haven. “That fence is almost five feet high and she scratched at it until it unlatched.” Once Jesse was out, she ran to a neighbor’s house and started scratching on the door. When no one answered, she ran to the next house and scratched there until someone came out. A neighbor discovered Dave just in time. Ten minutes later, doctors told him, and he wouldn’t have made it. Doctors spent six hours detoxifying his body of carbon monoxide, then ushered him into surgery to operate on the cancer they discovered had returned. After about a week in the hospital, Dave retreated to Earthway Farms where he found peace of mind and a new focus for his life – music. Dave was a musician at heart and had made a part-time living at it years ago but had given up the dream for family and more stable income. Then one night while at the farm everything changed. Patty was in the kitchen doing dishes while Dave was in the other room playing guitar. He started singing something and she realized it was a poem she had written about her 16-year-old pug dog Ollie, who was sick and expected to pass away at any time. The melody came easy for Dave, who saw a parallel between his story and the dying pug. “Here was this little dog, fighting for her life, and I was trying to throw mine away,” he said. The idea to make a CD came soon after. “One day I asked him, ‘If you could do anything, what would it be?’ and he said, ‘Make music,’” Patty said. Today Dave and his sister have combined their talents and are traveling around the state bringing hope to people who have none by sharing their words, music and story. They go mostly to church groups, senior citizens homes and prisons where they find audiences that benefit from Dave’s story of hope, Patty said. A few weeks ago they visited a women’s prison in Roseville. “It was a wonderful experience,” said Patty, who read from her recently published book of poetry titled “To Speak of Things That Matter.” The book features a compilation of poetry Patty started working on as early as 1997. This is her second published work. Patty’s book and Dave’s CD called “No More Tears” were both published earlier this year. Dave’s CD includes some of his sister’s poetry set to music, including that first song about a little pug dog, who passed away just days after Dave left Earthway Farm. It’s called “Back to Heaven.” The CD also features “The Rope Maker,” by Patty, “To Believe,” “Brother” and “The Gift.” The rest of the songs are a compilation of old and new music written and composed by Dave. The original plan, Patty said, was to go out and simply promote the book and the CD together, but it somehow evolved into sharing Dave’s story as a message of hope. And at first that wasn’t easy for Dave. “I was embarrassed of the whole thing; shameful,” he said. “But when I was going through treatment so many people came and told their story. I can forget about being embarrassed when I share it now because it helps so many people.” Dave knows it helps people by the response, including letters, that he gets from his audience. After Patty and Dave’s performance at the woman’s prison, a woman approached Patty with tears in her eyes. “I was thinking of suicide,” she said. “But I know there is hope now. If he can do it, I can too.” That’s the message of the CD and book, said Patty. “Our message is don’t give up. There’s always hope, and follow your dreams,” she said. “Dave was at his worst and he saw the light at the end of the tunnel.” The Deases can be contacted for bookings or to purchase a CD or book by calling 236-7852.
