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Here is an insiders look at that special night from Kathy Cash Tittle

Thu, June 25, 1998 at 07:04 PM

Summary: The RYMAN!!!!!!!!!!!! :))))

Hi EVERYONE!!!

Last night was the COOLEST! Johnny Western had it backwards though. Kris was singing "Sunday Morning coming Down" and during the last verse Dad walked out. KRIS started SOBBING....not just teared up... Dad finished the song on his own, and got chocked up himself. I was on the front row, and I started as soon as he walked out. ( He had said up until the day before, that he wasn't able to go) When the song was over, and Kris and dad were in a huge bear hug...I realized that I wasn't the only one standing..or crying. The entire audience was touched deeply. If they weren't crying, they were certainly choked up. Dad walked over to the podium to get his award, and had to wait a couple of minutes for the audience to settle down so he could speak. He started with, "This is the first stage I've been on since last October...It feels good. I want to thank everyone that prayed for me, and I know they were praying all over the world, because I heard about my fans and friends on the internet, and at the hospital my family was holding prayer vigil. I found out who loves me...AND I found out who doesn't." Then he laughed, and accepted his award. ( The award is the Chetty...which is the headstock of a guitar, and has a plaque at the base ) He said his thanks for the award, then said, "I'd like to have the REST of the guitar, too." Dad was GREAT!!! His hair is gray, he had on all black of course, and looked stately. He walked without help, and his charisma was showing full force! He stayed until intermission, and was very tired, but happy.

Love to all...~~Kathy

Johnny Cash Performs at Concert

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) - Johnny Cash strode across a stage for the first time since his brush with death, and then thanked his fans for helping him pull through.

Accompanied by wild cheering, Cash walked onstage Wednesday at historic Ryman Auditorium - former home to the Grand Ole Opry - while Kris Kristofferson was performing his song ``Sunday Morning Coming Down'' that was a hit for Cash in 1970.

The two finished the song together, then embraced.

``He didn't do that at the sound check,'' Kristofferson said, wiping away tears. Cash, 66, said he nearly died from pneumonia in November, shortly after he announced he had Shy-Drager syndrome. It is a progressive nervous-system disorder that can cause blackouts, tremors, muscle stiffness and slow movement.

``This is the first stage I've walked on since last October,'' Cash said. He said his doctors had done all they could do when he suddenly rebounded. ``People had prayer groups on the Internet for me, and I believe it was prayers that pulled me through.''