After he had lost the ability to eat, breathe or walk on his own, Nick Stanley still found ways to share his love of life, to show people how precious it is.
Ryan Peters, known as the rapper Spose, first learned this during a visit to Stanley’s home in Farmington. Stanley had already been bedridden for several years, due to a condition called adult onset spinal muscular atrophy. He couldn’t move and could barely speak. Still, the two shared a passion for music, and during the visit, Peters found himself amazed at how easily Stanley could smile and laugh.
After being bedridden for about a decade, Stanley died Wednesday at his Farmington home, said Jeff Sweetser, his stepfather. He was 43.
“He was cracking jokes and making me laugh. I remember thinking, ‘He hasn’t moved in years, what do I have to complain about?’” Peters said. “What he went through was brutal. Seeing what he suffered and how he handled it really helped me to appreciate what I have.”
Despite being immobile and dependent on around-the-clock care, Stanley had become well known in the Maine music scene over the past 10 years and an inspiration to everyone who knew him. Maine performers who knew of Stanley’s passion for music often performed at his home, including Spose and Rustic Overtones.
Over the years Stanley’s small, modular home became known as Stanley Station, and Stanley would post notices of upcoming shows at his bedside on his Facebook page and invite all his friends to come over. Several of the musicians were from the Farmington area, but others came from Greater Portland and Massachusetts. For a time, there was some kind of live music going on at his house at least twice a month.
“What was so inspiring about him was that, against all odds, he enjoyed what he could get out of life,” said Dave Gutter, lead singer of Rustic Overtones. “The energy he had for life, art and music was just incredible.”
Ryan Peters, also known as the rapper Spose, talks with Nick…