My name is Endless Nameless. Where should I start? I know they say it is best to start at the beginning, but in this instance I’m starting at both the end and the beginning. It is my end, but it is your beginning. Actually, if I’m getting technical, it is your pre-beginning.

I’m your dad and I’m lying on my hospital deathbed. I have kidney cancer and according to the doctors I only have a short time left. Your mom is pregnant with you and she is expecting your arrival in just a few short months. Unfortunately, there is a very real likelihood I will not be around to welcome you into this crazy world.

According to the ultrasounds you are going to be a boy. I have already discussed possible names with your mother. As a joke I initially suggested Sue after the Johnny Cash song “A Boy Name Sue”. Your mom just rolled her eyes in the adorable way she likes to do. After discussing a number of other possible options we decided on Ramone. That name was chosen after a band that has had a profound impact on both our lives. That impact will become even more pronounced later on.

As your dad, it is my heartfelt desire you get to know me. Like any other loving parent, I want to impart to you essential guidance and life lessons. In many cases this will involve learning from my mistakes, so you do not have to experience them for yourself. 

In order for you to get to know me I decided to write down my memoirs. Because of my frail state it is hard for me to do too much writing or typing, so I am dictating much of this to my sister (and your aunt) Baby Blue. I’m grateful to have her aid in the process because her memory is superior to mine. So when it comes to certain events she has the ability to help fill in the blanks. The downside is that there are parts of my life that even she didn’t know up until now. So at times that was extremely difficult to share. There have been some passionate debates whether or not certain things should be included. Ultimately the determining criteria were twofold: 1) would it help you to understand the type of person your daddy was? 2) Was there a valuable life lesson to be learned?  If the answer was yes to either of these questions I decided to include it, even if it was a bit uncomfortable to share. Sometimes the right choice is the one that takes you out of your comfort zone. But ultimately I will be dead, so what do I care.  

Ramone, I will be honest with you; I’m not the most eloquent individual in the world. As I already touched upon I do have memory retrieval issues at times. I’m thinking to myself, how can I overcome those limitations? An ability I do have is to associate events and time periods with music. With that in mind I’m going to use songs as the framework and timeline to share with you my life experiences and lessons.

This actually reminds me of a documentary I once watched. There is an organization whose objective is to provide all residents of nursing homes with digital music players. These are filled with music from the patient’s childhood. Studies show that patients with Alzheimer’s and dementia respond well to the music therapy. The music stimulates positive memories. It also helps calm the mood of agitated patients. According to the documentary, this was significantly more effective and cheaper than drugs. Just as a side lesson in connection with this, if you are ever considering taking drugs as a means of escape, I deeply implore you to consider listening to music instead.

Ramone, as my beloved son there are a number of things I yearn to impart to you. If I mostly fail in my ambitious endeavors hopefully I will at least succeed in passing on the precious inheritance of a love for music. Music is a gift which helped both your mom and I through some serious trials.

You will no doubt notice that periodically I will be throwing in random top 10 lists. Your mom and I have had many heated but enjoyable debates about our top 10 music lists. As you grow older you will come to realize that many serious music fans like to make lists. On the surface these may appear to be meaningless, but they can be a fun starting point to a lively musical discussion. Other people’s lists can be a way to introduce you to new artists and genres of music.

For example, one musician who had an impact on my adolescence was Kurt Cobain of Nirvana. Like many other music fans Kurt liked to make lists. One such published list was a listing of 50 albums that helped inspire the music of Nirvana, which helped broaden my own musical tastes. As you grow older you will most likely develop your own love for reading and making lists. Hopefully this will open up your mind, ears and hearts to the possibilities of being exposed to new types of sonic goodness through the recommendations of others. 

There is another quirk I have that will no doubt rear its ugly head as I continue to transmit my thoughts. At random times someone will say something that makes me think of a possible band name. Much to the chagrin of both your grandma and aunt I experience the uncontrolled urge to yell out “BAND NAME!” A good friend of mine named Cretin, and I, quite often after hearing something, would look at each other and one of us would ask “band name?” and then in unison we would both enthusiastically declare “BAND NAME!” Variations of this have been done on the TV show Park and Recreation and the Homestar Runner website, but I swear we did it first. We also did it better. Getting back to my point, no doubt I am going to make expressions that will solicit a similar uncontrolled outburst. Please bear with me. Ramone, part of getting to know your dad is having an understanding of his idiosyncrasies. The Idiosyncrazies – band name? BAND NAME! I will not be there to embarrass you, but at least I can give you something that will make you roll your eyes at me.  

In many ways what I am doing can be compared to making you a literary version of a mix tape (or mix CD). If you need to know about CD’s and cassette tapes, just ask your mom. A mix CD that I made for your mom is part of what drew us together, but that is a story for another time.

Before I get into the epic soundtrack of my mundane existence there is one more thing I would like to share with you. This will help you gain a greater comprehension about the important connection music has had in my life. It is a true life story that involved one of my musical heroes Jeffrey Ross Hyman. Hyman is better known as Joey Ramone. He was the legendary front man of the seminal punk band the Ramones. This is the band you are named after. Also if you happened to be a female we would have named you Ramona instead.

When Hyman died back on April 15th, 2001 the last song he listened to was “In a Little While” by U2. This is an instance of where a song can have multiple interpretations based on the situation. For example, when Bono of U2 wrote the song it was from the perspective of recovering from a hangover. To Hyman it resonated in an entirely different way. From the perspective of someone laying on their deathbed you can just imagine the solace that could be found in the lyric "In a