Ellen…Love is Everywhere!

Dear Ellen,

I will go through backwards time to describe what has happened in the last few days.

I’ll start with yesterday:

SATURDAY, Feb 11

4:00 – 9:30 pm After taking iolana (our five year old) to Bridget’s for a sleepover, Lance and I headed to the Hill Country so I could sing in Kevin & Kevin’s committment ceremony. I had asked one of the Kevin’s what color they would like me to wear for the event, and he had said “Brown”…and I said, “Ooh! Like chocolate!?” and he said, “Well, I was thinking mocha…”

Of all the weddings I have been to in my life, this one took the cake. The minute we arrived, I could FEEL that this was a blessed event.
Set way atop a mountain (ok, I think some people would call it a really tall hill, but I’m saying “mountain”), you could see out over a lake
with tiny sail boats, and the sun was that golden syrup of late day yellow, pouring down on all the beautiful trees that were shimmering outside the clear, gorgeous windows. The Kevins had their black lab, Jasmine, take part of the entire ceremony, and she looked lovely in a collar of yellow daisies and purple silk ribbon. She only barked once, right in the middle of “Faithful Heart”, and it was perfect timing.
It was if she was saying, “YES!” to the whole affair. It made me want to bark, too!

Father John Mark officiated the ceremony, with words of humor that lead into a depth of God’s grace that was so profoundly moving, I had to hold back tears. He talked about how God is still creating everyday, how Love is Love and that all of us in the room were expanding the love that Kevin and Kevin shared not only with each other, but with each of us, within their community.

Everything about the day exemplified how two souls can enrich not only each other’s lives, but enrich everyone around them. And, in exchange, then receive back the love that they have manifested. And, standing up with these two fine human beings, sharing the gift of music, I loved seeing two SOULS exchanging promises, two SOULS announcing their feelings and their hearts, and the desire to share their committment with one another with those they love.

As Father John Mark announced, when two come together in love, nothing can break that bond, and the church and the state can
bless or not bless a union, but the union has already been confirmed because the knot was tied long ago….

3:00 pm I got a phone call from dear Vic that I was supposed to be singing at his showcase at the Folk Alliance, a huge event that has musicians from all over the world descending on Austin this weekend…And I was so deflated, I had to tell Vic I didn’t know about it, and that I was on my way to go sing at a wedding. I felt terrible. I had seen Vic and Reba the day before and asked about the showcases, and no one mentioned my being on their roster, and I just had no idea I was suppsed to be there. This is only the second time I’ve ever missed a performance and I love Vic and Reba so very much, I would never want to upset them. This can only be cleared up in person, which I will do today (Sunday) when I head back over to the Alliance. (Sounds like I’m on the good side in Star Wars..I like that!)

1:00 pm We are at the Hilton Hotel, where the Folk Alliance is being held. I’m here with Joe McDermott and a lot of other children’s musicians, waiting to perform for the children’s showcase. We’ve just been informed that instead of having 30 minutes to do a set each, all the groups will now only have 8 MINUTES to perform. Ha ha ha. I tell the sound engineer, “Well, for some of us, that’s one song!” Of course, everyone gets up and it’s fun for the kids and Joe has a great set and then I pop on stage and have Phil Parlapiano, Bob Livingston, Dan Navarro and Bill Oliver hop up and we sing “I Wish You Well” and that was FUN!!! I ‘ve never had all male professional singers sit in with me like that. Ooh-la-la, it was suh-weet! But, of course, too short. I see friends. I take pictures. It’s time to go, we are heading out the door to get home to change for the wedding.

8:00 am Everybody up! io’s basketball game is at 9:00. Breakfast eaten? Check. Shoes and socks on? Check. Feed the dog? Check. Let the dog out to poop? Check. Let’s go! We stop on the way to pick up aftergame snacks for all (today a special treat: Rice Krispie bars!!! Whoo-hoo!) The game is great and noisy and lots of squeaky sneakers.

4:00 am Get up to let the dog out to pee. Back to bed.