American Idol Recap

Northbrook, Illinois — The colors were a bit faded and the skin wasn’t quite as firm as it used to be, but you could still make out the design of Lawrence Ori’s only tattoo. He couldn’t raise his arm proudly to show you anymore, but you could still see the Aerosmith logo there on his bicep. It’s not just the tattoo. Aerosmith weaved its way through Ori’s life in both obvious and subtle ways. His license plate read “ROCKN” and his cell phone played the band’s classic “Dream On”. “He turned me into a rocker chick,” said Joanie Dziak, Ori’s girlfriend. “He taught me to rock at age 50.” Ori, then 62, had progressive supranuclear palsey (PSP), a degenerative condition similar to Parkinson’s disease, that made it difficult for him to talk and move. But even as a hospice patient, when “Sweet Emotion” or “Rag Doll” came on, he tapped his feet and nodded his head in time with the music. Ori knew that his days of “livin’ on the edge” were past, but some dreams are just too big to give up on — like Ori’s dream of meeting his rock hero Steven Tyler. As his condition worsened, Ori knew his chance of meeting Tyler was growing slimmer. Even as he came to terms with his own death, he stayed loyal to his dream. His family had gathered around his bed, donning black Aerosmith t-shirts in solidarity with their rocker friend. Aerosmith’s greatest hits came from the CD player in the corner, and pictures of Ori at concerts were on the walls. Then the word came: Steven Tyler is calling …

If I Can’t Write My Chocolate Song, I’m Going to Take a Nap [HD]

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