My family has been observing the anniversary of Freddie Mercury's death since his untimely passing in 1991. He died on November 24, so we always do a little something-something for him around Thanksgiving to honor his memory.

It all started one dumb year (1992 probably, the 1st anniversary of his death) when I decided to build a shrine to him, and declared that the entire Thanksgiving holiday would be spent in somber rembrance of Fourokh Bulsara, aka Freddie Mercury.

I set up a table in my bedroom and had an 8x10 b/w glossy of Freddie, surrounded by approximately 30 votive candles. I leaned my guitar against the table, and softly played "Another One Bites the Dust" on continuous replay in the background. There was a makeshift red carpet leading to my bedroom. My sisters surprised me by going as far overboard with the whole thing as I had, by showing up from their road trip wearing black capes and black fingernail polish on one hand only.

No one wore white satin deep v-neck jumpsuits, though.

Over the years this somehow evolved into the Freddie Mercury Memorial Invitational Ping Pong Tournament. (I was the 1st Annual Champion, by the way.) My dad still hasn't quite gotten it straight, he calls it the "Freddie McMurtry Thing." Sometimes he's a little closer and refers to it as the "Freddie McMercury Ping Pong Thing."

But last year my sister Lindy came across the most amazing thing. For reasons unbeknownst to me, she was doing a lot of internet searches on Freddie and reading lots of old interviews with him. One particular interviewer from Circus magazine in 1975 asked him what his favorite sports were. He replied:

"I like ping pong and I like athletics, swimming, hockey."

Oh, destiny! Oh, joke that ended up being a completely fitting tribute! Oh, I am somehow on the same wavelength as Freddie McMercury!

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