The day couldn’t have been brighter…from the skies
to the people. The folks who put the Walkathon for the
homeless together are a corportation called Fannie
Mae, which, oddly enough, I did a national t.v. ad for
a few years back. All the represenatives
were really nice. (We got to meet the new mayor of Dallas, too.
Lily had her picture taken with him.)
At the last minute, I asked the girls
if they wanted to come with me, so being the merry travelers
they are, they packed up, hopped in the van, and sat in the back
with Brad and all his drums, playing Hangman and giggling over
assorted silliness.
The stage was a smaller version of ACL Fest, except this time we
had LIGHTS, too! Thanks to the sound guys (and the light guy!) for
making us ROCK! And thanks to Donna and Chris for making every
thing run smoothly and for thinking to invite me in the first place!
There were sponsor tents set up where only the
sponsors could get in for fine spreads of food and
tables at which to sit. I had a homeless man named
Bill approach me after soundcheck to ask where the
food was, and it was then I realized…There wasn’t
any for those without money…! Isn’t that odd? An event for the homeless,
and nothing for them to eat! So, I took him by the hand to the
Fannie Mae tent and sailed him in with me, introducing
him along the way, and gave him a plate and said,
“Please help yourself, Bill.” You can imagine…
this happened more than once, and, soon,
other folks started bringing in new friends to share
the meal.
I met another man named Raymond who has been on the
streets for 14 years, and used to deal and smoke.
He cleaned up for God, and we had a very moving
conversation about connecting through the spirit. He
said he could tell my spirit is about healing, that
God uses me to heal, and he wanted to come talk to me.
I held him and he had tears of great love. He came and
sat with me, Lily and io until it was time for me to
go up on stage.
The girls sat up there on the stage
while we performed (it was the entire band, and they
sounded TREMENDOUS!)
From the stage, I congratulated everyone who turned out for
taking steps on behalf of the Dallas homeless, and asked everyone
that the next time they see a homeless person to say “hello” or
smile as they look that person in the eye. I comitted
that 99% of the time, they will be glad that they made
the effort because the homeless are numb from being
ignored, numb from ignorance, and they are US…we are
all one, and every human being deserves to be seen and
acknowledged. I was sad that so many homeless were
present, and yet, I wondered how many had been talked
with or even acknowledged. Here were all these people
gathered on behalf of the homeless…and yet…there
didn’t seem to be any intermingling of the groups…
Well, it is a start, and a grand one, because Fannie
Mae hosted the event in 8 cities around the U.S.
And to that I say YES!!!
After the gig, the girls and Kristin and I checked into our
hotel and then walked around the West End for a super
supper at Spaghetti Warehouse. Their tiramisu is
quite tasty! Get some next time you can.
We stayed up late watching a really great movie,
“Hairspray” (the latest version), and we actually all made it
to midnight before we fell asleep.
Got up and had breakfast, then we packed and went across the street
to the Dallas Aquarium where we oohed and aahed over the baby
Golden Tamarind (?) and enjoyed all the giant fish and flora.
The drive home, we made crank phone calls to friends, and had
ourselves in stitches. The girls were really hilarious…trying to sound
like old, male politicians and a woman who lost her Chihauhau.
Then our friends started calling back, acting like they were the police or
morticians. I was laughing so hard I had tears in my eyes. You should
hear Kristin laugh, cuz when SHE laughs, then you can’t help but laugh some
more and so, all in all….a weekend of love and laughter!
Love,
Sara