Hurley Cox

Hurley Cox. 4 years ago today. Died peacefully in Baltimore in Hospice. For hours, people came to express their love and share their stories. The garden was alive with hummingbirds that day. All singing the joy of Hurley's arrival back home. Live a Life Worth Celebrating. My husband certainly did! (Bottom left hand corner of picture)
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This is what I wrote on my Facebook status today and on the Jonas Watch Facebook status. I can't really write about anything else today. It is here. The remembrance of the day, the man, the years I was married to him, the year he was sick with cancer, the day he died, the four years since his death.

During our 15 year marriage, we packed more life and death into 15 years, than many people experience in a lifetime. Here is a list of a few of our experiences together

1. We had a son who lived with a congenital heart defect through two open heart surgeries and died of cancer at the age of 19 months.

2. We gave life to a beautiful daughter, Hannah who, at the age of 5, nicknamed herself, "running princess who finds diamonds.”

3. We had joint custody of my amazing daughters, Mary and Liz and raised them to adulthood.

4. We moved into a house with three falling down ceilings and 27 boarded up windows and did most of the renovating ourselves.

5. We home schooled our daughters.

6. We installed an in ground pool together (amazing we stayed married during that adventure!)

7. We celebrated life with go karts in the front yard and kite flying on the beach.

8. We had a house full of animals with 2 golden retrievers and three cats and canaries hanging from the ceiling, and aquariums of exotic and every day fish and 2 leopard geckos.

9. We planted a huge garden with a 4-H club, provided space and guidance to many children through Destination Imagination and Girl Scouts and home schooling classes.

10. I recovered from a life threatening, autoimmune condition and Hurley did not recover from multiple myeloma cancer.


Today I AM:

Sad: I miss our pillow talk, late at night, early in the morning. Our best time of the day.

Happy: Thinking about his booming laughter. You could hear him wherever he was with his out-loud, booming, body shaking, head thrown back laughter.

Grateful: For all I learned about myself because we were in a relationship together.

Determined: To live a life worth celebrating with joy during ALL of the ups and downs

Awake: To everything I can see, hear, feel, taste and touch and to live in the now of life.

I AM Living a Life Worth Celebrating.

Concert 22-Pittsburgh, PA. An Epiphany

Thanks to Christine Hammond for sponsoring the blog today. (Love ya!)

For more information on sponsoring a blog, go to www.livealifeworthcelebrating.com

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July 25, 2009

Concert 22-Pittsburgh, PA. An Epiphany



Hannah slept for the first two hours of the car ride. She spent the night at the DaGrava’s, our family friends. It was good for her to have time with Katie and with Karen, my friend and Katie’s Mom. But, she was tired.

I was all revved up with ideas of how to generate money to continue the journey. As Hannah slept, my mind was thinking and dreaming. I kept reminding myself that I had enough money for the next five days and to focus on that for now. Who to call, what action to take and when…lots and lots of ideas.

When Hannah woke up, I asked if she wanted to hear some of my ideas. First, I talked with her about vlogging, a video blog. When we were in Tulsa, we talked with a videographer for 90 minutes or so and it had been really fun to share some of the stories with him. We had laughed and reminisced and he had stayed with us for a lot longer than he originally thought he would.

As I discussed this with Hannah, she had a different opinion and we ended up arguing. I was so mad, I was ready to turn around and go back to Baltimore. When I look back at it with fresh eyes this morning, I feel the tension that was in the car with us yesterday. Both of us wanted to continue the journey, but we didn’t have the crystal ball that would give us the answers!

We worked through it over the next hour and for now, we are going to move forward and each do our own vlog. Stay tuned. I have a funny store about the Honor Society, an Oprah campaign and my passionate conversation with them about this. I will record and post it in the next few days.

We arrived in Pittsburgh with no tickets and no hope of tickets initially. Concert was sold out. We hung out and waited to see if tickets would be released. I watched the BK Apple Fries employees. There is a managing staff that travels with the tour and then they have different people who work for them at each location. The guy who was working the megaphone had no enthusiasm, no creativity. I went up to him and demonstrated. “Get your free, ice cold, apple fries. They are delicious and healthy and the Jonas Brothers Love them!” I was demonstrating and practically jumping up and down. He told me that he doesn’t like it when the girls scream and went back to talking into the megaphone like a sleep walker. Hopeless. I walked away shaking my head.

After several hours of checking for tickets at the box office, two tickets were released. We wanted to buy the cheapest seats to stretch our money, but these two seats were the most expensive. I hesitated for about an hour. Nothing else was released. Decided to go for it.

I walked over to the Marriott to use the bathroom. (Why don’t the venues have porta-potty’s outside?!? I think that East Rutherford, NJ was the only venue so far that had toilets outside for the people who were hanging out for hours! Okay, back to the story...)

I looked at the churches surrounding the Mellon Arena. You can’t miss them. They are huge and beautiful with angels and other huge statues on top of them. I saw that one of the churches was called Epiphany Catholic Church. With all of the internal thoughts all stirred up within me, I decided to walk into the church and see if I could have an epiphany myself! Epiphany=A Divine Manifestation.

There was a church service beginning. I sat down in the pew and listened to the sermon, sang Amazing Grace with the congregation, shook a few hands to “Peace be with you,” and then left feeling warm and connected. I felt the surrender in my heart. Whatever was to happen would happen. The priest even mentioned the Jonas Brothers and how they are using their gifts to create joy.

It was time to enter the venue. Hannah was already in the seat location and I thought, "well, this is pretty good. I like these seats."

She was in a grumpy mood and I was thinking about how spoiled we have become with some of our seats and seeing so many concerts and on and on. I was judging her reaction and wondering what “wisdom” I should share with her to learn from this situation. I decided to dance and sing and talk with her later.

During the Honor Society opening performance, I kept moving to different seats to take pictures. The usher was bringing people down and I had to keep moving back to my seat. Even though we were very close to one of the stages, the camera location was blocking ¾ of the stage. Hannah and I talked during the break and she wanted to go talk to the box office and complain.

It was in this moment that I had an epiphany. I had been settling for the seats we were given and I was telling myself to be grateful for what I had. Hannah was saying, we paid top dollar for these seats and the cameraman is blocking our view! We went to the box office, explained that we had paid for the most expensive seats and that there was nothing that said that there was an obstruction. Within minutes, we were assigned new seats (even though this was a sold out arena) and the usher led us to our seats. Oh, my word! We were in the third row facing the middle of the stage and were so close that I was looking into the eyes of each of the Jonas Brothers.

Hannah and I danced and danced and sang and sang. We had one of the best nights of the whole tour. I changed my perspective about my daughter this evening. Asking for what you want is not being selfish or ungrateful. She was right. If the tickets had been discounted because of the obstruction, we would have had a great time there. But, to pay as much as a front row seat and not be able to see the stage was wrong!

When we arrived at the hotel tonight, which was free because of points I have accumulated, I checked my e-mail. I am receiving an advance in salary from a consulting job I do on the side. There is enough money to keep going for another few weeks and that gives us time to act on some other things that will take a few weeks to complete. Thanks for the prayers and support.

An Epiphany tonight indeed!

Jump!

Thanks to Christine Hammond for sponsoring the blog today. (Love ya!)

For more information on sponsoring a blog, go to www.livealifeworthcelebrating.com

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I went to bed last night feeling defeated. We are home in Baltimore for 24 hours. We are staying in the house that I thought would have been sold in June until the contract fell apart when the woman lost her job of 21 years.

My friend has a few nights to go home while we figure this out.

I have needed to pay the mortgage for three months longer than I had anticipated. We are living on the edge, not knowing moment to moment if we can go on financially. Several people have paid for sponsoring the blog and being a part of the adventure. I received a loan. I have sold some copies of a book I co-authored.

I have been unable to attract corporate sponsors. I know that this is a great advertising opportunity for the right company. An ad on the blog. A logo on our business cards. A logo on the car.I know there is a creative way to do this. But, last night I was discouraged and couldn’t see any open doors.

Two days ago, I connected with my sister and her family in NYC. She lives in Florida. We live in Maryland. Our summer plans created a moment for our paths to cross and have lunch at my favorite NYC restaurant-Picante’s on Broadway between W. 139th and W. 140th Street in Hamilton Heights, Manhattan. Delicious Mexican food.

As my brother-in-law, Pat and my sister, Joanne asked me questions about where and when and how, I had a flashback to several other moments in my life. They were all moments when I felt I needed to move forward with something even when I didn’t have the answers, even when I didn’t know the when and how and what. We are a family of planners and I am living in the now. I only know a day or two in advance. I know where the Jonas Brothers are going for their concerts, but I do not know how I will get there.

During the conversation, I had a flashback to when I decided to home school my children in 1996, I had been seriously ill for two years. At the moment of this epiphany, I was laying in isolation in a hospital room, unable to walk. The doctors were not sure if I had a bacterial infection. I knew it was the new medication. I hadn’t felt well since I started taking it three weeks earlier. I had arrived at the hospital by ambulance due to the fact that I could not walk.

I vowed in that moment that I would get well. Every fiber of my being knew that I would love myself to wellness. I would take charge of this and I would surrender to the journey and find the answers. And then, as if a light bulb went off in my head. I decided to home school my kids.
I announced this to the nurse who was caring for me on that day. I announced it to my husband. They nodded approval and feigned interest, but their eyes said it all. They all thought I was dying and this was one last crazy idea.

I DID get well. I DID surrender and take charge and listened for the answers. And 14 years later, I am still home schooling my youngest daughter. It has been an amazing journey. My life has been full of a richness I would not have had if I had not followed my heart.

As I sat in the restaurant, two days ago, I reminded myself of this epiphany and we talked about the journey from uncertainty that led to the journey.

Last night, I read the comments on Hannah’s blog and my blog. I thought of the amazing connections we have made and I knew that we must go on! But, how...

I awoke this morning with words from one of Jordin Sparks songs when everyone says, Jump, jump, jump, jump, jump, jump... Over and over, I heard the words playing in my head all morning.

If these were just concerts, just a frivolous summer trip, I would never have begun this. But, something is calling us to keep moving forward. You, the reader, are calling us to this journey. Hannah and I are on this journey for all of us. It is about following a dream, living in infinite possibilities, opening to inspiration and creativity. It is about meeting you and sharing the journey and finding new ways to sustain ourselves as we travel from one end of the country to the other.

With the uncertainty of where the money is going to come from, I am pushed and stretched to try new things, to ask for help, to surrender to the journey, to take action, to listen.

Hannah and I leave for Pittsburgh in the morning. We have enough money to get to Kansas City. And in the next five days we will submit a book proposal, contact the Maryland Film Institute to see if anyone wants to use our house for a film. We will talk with the realtor, consider renting rooms, call companies to find the sponsorship. We will surrender and open to the gifts of the Universe along the way.

And we will meet you along the way.

Concert 21: Uniondale, New York

Thanks to MaryAnn McNeely for sponsoring the blog this week.
She makes beautiful jewelry and is a life coach.

Check out her website:

http://www.maryannmcneely.com/

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Concert 21: Uniondale, New York
July 21, 2009

Your vision will become clear only when you look into your heart. Who looks outside, dreams. Who looks inside, awakens. – Carl Jung


It was the first really rainy day of the concert tour. The vendor buses and trucks were there with one lonely Burger King Apple Fries cart. People were crowding into the ticket box area or they were huddled together looking for shelter.

Hannah and I did not have tickets and we were both sort of freaking out. This was the day I had agreed to help Jesse, my daughter Mary’s fiancé, return stage lights and a ladder. It involved a variety of stops. First we drove from W. 140th Street and Broadway to the Richmond Shepard Theatre at 309 E. 26th Street (@ 2nd Ave.) where ACTion Ecuador, a Dramatic Adventure Theatre production, had performed for four days. (The performances were phenomenal, by the way.) We loaded the huge spotlights after shuffling suitcases and the ladder to fit everything into the car. The drop-off spot was Hell’s Kitchen around 9th and 40th. It was a really cool building. I could imagine the 1920’s and The Silent Film era when Broadway was booming.

All of this was in Manhattan… in the rain.

With all of that handled, we drove to Queens to the home of the lighting designer. We were returning the ladder. As I drove through the tunnel and paid the toll, we realized the computer directions were missing one key element. The only way to reach the exit before crossing the bridge was to be all the way to the right at the toll booth. There was a barrier and we couldn’t get over to the exit. It took us another 45 minutes to get back to Queens. All of this was in crazy rush hour traffic and did I say…in the rain.

When I am in NYC, I usually park the car and we take public transportation or an occasional cab everywhere. But, the estimated public transportation time to Long Island was 3 ½ hours. The original plan according to the computer was that the errands and the drive to the concert location would take 90 minutes. Driving to Queens was on the way to the concert in Uniondale on Long Island. It took 3 hours, it was raining, we didn’t have concert tickets and we were freaking out.

At 6pm, we stood in line and saw the people in front of us buying the newly released, precious front row seats. We were really stressing on each other. The weather, the lateness, and the disruption of our routine and shortage of money had us stressed and taking it out on each other. (These are not my proudest moments, but I want to be honest with you. We were not very nice to each other today.)

We had to pay more than we wanted to for my ticket. The only tickets available were the top price. Hannah got a front row corner seat. I was on the 200 level, but still the same price.
After we got our tickets, I decided to walk outside in the rain. An unexpected gift appeared. Jen, the woman who works at some of the venues with Burger King was here. We met in the Midwest and now she had been here for the three shows on Long Island. I was shocked, excited, and thrilled. The last time I saw her was in Chicago where she lives and works.

She had been at the tour at these really pivotal moments. After hugging her and hearing a few of her life details, I talked with her about the stress and the frustration and my desire to open to the next steps. As usual she gave me hugs and encouragement.

I don’t know what is going to happen. We are going to the Full Moon Crazy Show tomorrow night for Honor Society and then back to Baltimore. We are at the end of our money. Is this the end?

I have found that when I am frustrated and stressed, I attract more frustration and more things that require patience. Long lines at the women’s bathroom, people arguing around me, and rainy, damp days. When I can see my life as a spiritual practice and switch my focus to curiosity and wonderment, everything shifts.

I decided to enjoy myself. I was in the building now with a ticket. If this was the last show, I wanted to be awake and alive in this moment. I walked around the concourse and looked at the food. (Maybe I will publish this someday. A list of different food at the booths at the arenas around the country)

I looked for the sponsor booths to see if there was anything new. I saw Jen and she waved to me. She had called me on my cell phone but I hadn’t heard it ring with all the noise from the crowd. She called her husband Antonio, the guy who runs the Burger King events at all of the concerts this summer. He asked about my tickets and presented me with upgraded tickets.

Something shifted. Or had I already shifted my attitude and that opened me to this moment? Hannah had a front row seat so I only needed the one ticket. Antonio and Jen sat by me that night. It was the first time they had seen the show. They took pictures at the concert and watched with wide open amazement.

I watched the concert as if it were my last. Savoring the atmosphere. Dancing every song. Feeling the gratitude of this moment. Not knowing what is next.

Every day there has been something pulling me into the dream of this adventure. Is it time to turn back or move forward?

A celebration of transformation with Dramatic Adventure Theatre

Today's jonas watch is sponsored by Dramatic Adventure Theatre. www.dramaticadventure.com


For sponsorship information go to www.livealifeworthcelebrating.com

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Yesterday, I skipped a Jonas Brothers concert in Uniondale, NY to spend the day at the Richmond Shepard Theatre in NYC watching plays. The plays were a reflection of a year long project from an organization called Dramatic Adventure Theatre. My daughter, Mary, age 25 and her fiance, Jesse, age 28 are the creators and owners of this company.

A year ago, they decided to expand the organization to create a program for college students and theater artists. 75 people participated in this program. Groups of students and artists went to Ecuador for several weeks. It was a cross cultural program that included service projects, art workshops and the creation of a piece of theater that reflected something about the experience for them.

I watched nine short plays yesterday. Each one so powerful that I could barely speak without sobbing. The last two years, I watched Mary and Jesse perform a theater piece with several actors after visiting Zimbabwe and Ecuador. I always thought that I cried because I knew them and I could see and feel their transformation. I knew who they were before the trip and I saw how they had changed from going to the different countries.

Last night the tears came because I could feel the transformation that had happened for each of the groups. It was palpable. Transformation was oozing from their bodies as they relived their experiences by putting them into an expression of music, dance, and words.

I am still so moved by what I saw that the words of the experience for me are not fully formed.

In the beginning of this blog today, I said it was a year long project, but it was really a project that they had been preparing for all of their lives.

I can remember a night when I was really sick twenty years ago. A flu, high fever type of illness. I had worked all day, picked up Mary, age 5 and Liz, age 3 from day care and all I wanted to do was fall into bed. It was only 6 or 7 pm, too early for Mary who could barely settle down at 10pm (she is still a night owl!) I popped a video into the VHS player, Mary Poppins. I gave her some instruction like, let me know when the movie is over or climb in bed when the movie is over. Something like that. I was delirious with fever that night.

Around 3 am, I rolled out of bed to check on her. There was Mary in the living room. A stack of musical VHS tapes on the couch, some dress up clothes, an open umbrella and Mary with a huge smile on her face.

What can I say, the kid ALWAYS loved theater!

In high school, Mary was the President of Future Business Leaders of America. In college, she studied Theater, Business and Communications. In her last semester of college, she told me that she was interested in doing something with children's theater.

Then, she met Jesse who had his own path of discovering creativity as a middle school student who thrived in the arts. He had a journey of overcoming shyness to step into a bolder role for himself in the world. He has an idea of traveling to different countries and doing theater with children. A discussion with a friend a few years ago, came back as a challenge to do it. He came up with the name Dramatic Adventure. And when he and Mary partnered, each brought the life experience and skills to make this happen.

Throughout their lives, both of their families traveled and demonstrated an entrepreneurial spirit, a love of adventure, an openness to trying new things. We provided a "container or space" that nurtured this spirit in them. With their family in the audience last night, we cheered them on to the finish line.

Yes, we provided the container and they did the work. They combined their passions, interests and hard work. They made the phone calls, stayed up late at night, took the financial, emotional and physical risks. They had roadblocks, doubts, hurdles to jump over. They had inspiration, moments of perfection and the determination to work through every challenge. They DID it!

And in their willingness to leap, they have created a place of transformation and awakening to 75 people who now know more about themselves. They are now bringing that awareness back to their families, their communities and their work. It is a ripple effect.

As I travel with Hannah to Jonas Brothers concerts, I do not know what the impact will be on our lives in the future. But, I am aware that the people we are meeting through the blogs and at the concerts we are all touching each other, awakening something in us and leading us on a path to somewhere.

For each person, I have met and conversed with, I want you to know that the 5 minute conversations in line for the bathroom, the sharing of our stories in between sets, dancing together, and of course, the hugs, are touching Hannah and me. We carry you with us in our hearts, our conversations and into our experiences.

And as I watched Jesse and Mary last night, closing the evening with words of gratitude, I was moved by the infinite possibilities that await us all. One step at a time.

Concert 18- Boston, Massachusetts Chance Encounters

Thank you to Second Look Books our blog sponsor today:

Second Look Books
168 South Street
Plainville, MA. 02762
slbooks@email.msn.com

For more information on sponsoring go to www.livealifeworthcelebrating.com


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July 17, 2009

Concert 18- Boston, Massachusetts

Synchronicity

This morning I drove to Plainsville, Massachusetts to meet a woman named Sue, the owner of a bookstore called Second Look Books. Sue is a friend of one of my Facebook friends, Christina Labonte Groves.

I met Christina on Facebook this past winter. I think a Course in Miracles brought us together. We were both in a Facebook group that shared inspirational messages. She uploaded a picture of herself in the snow. It was such a beautiful angelic picture, I wrote a comment and we began communicating more on Facebook. She is one of my group Favorites.

When Christina saw that I was traveling all around the United States going to Jonas Brothers concerts, she looked up the schedule, saw when they would be in Boston and sent me a message on Facebook. She offered me a place to stay.

I had a place to stay already, but I was in the process of looking for a bookstore to have a discussion with my book Conscious Choices: An Evolutionary Woman's Guide to Life. I thanked her for the invitation and then I asked if she knew of a bookstore or coffee shop where I could offer a book discussion. Within 24 hours, she had several ideas and talked with Sue and it was scheduled.

I drove to the store today to meet Sue in person, bring a few books and talk about the book group on Saturday. I was sad that Christina was working and unable to attend the book group. She was also working today. It was an amazing surprise when I arrived at the store and Christina was there. Her 11am appt was cancelled! We met and hugged and felt the connection that was started on Facebook.

The next “chance encounter” happened in Rosemont, Illinois last week. I was standing in line at the ticket booth waiting to pick up tickets and still looking for one ticket for the show that night. I was talking with a woman who was in line behind me. When I mentioned the goal of going to 45 concerts this summer, her daughter told me she had watched some of my daughter’s videos.
The conversation continued. They were from Boston. Susan has a travel business and had flown in with one daughter for the show. Her other daughter had broken her ankle in a freak softball accident at home plate and was not able to make the flight. We were talking about the Boston concerts. I told her that yes, we were coming and no, we did not have tickets yet. She had a friend who had two tickets to sell! She made a phone call and voila! the tickets were mine.

I met up with Susan and her daughters, Haleigh and Emilie in the train station below the Garden. I waited with them to take the handicapped elevator upstairs to the garden. Emilie is in a wheelchair while her ankle mends. Hannah received an unexpected meet and greet with the Jonas Brothers so she got her ticket and was off to stand in line.

I know that Susan could have handled the wheelchair and all of the details on her own. I also know that having an extra set of hands from me was good for her. We ended up on the third floor in a handicapped section with a huge dance floor area.

Isn't it fascinating that we were in line in Chicago, she became my connection for tickets, her daughter was in a wheelchair and I was able to help her? Pretty cool, huh?

Susan and I danced and had so much fun together at the concert. One of the best concerts.

I love these synchronistic connections. Have you had any lately?

Concert 17-East Rutherford, New Jersey- Community and Family

How perfect that Kathryn Yarborough is the sponsor for today. Check out her youtube about reducing stress and her website.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=htUcHvw9xqo

http://www.relaxed-and-at-ease.com

And let people know about her site. It is truly a gift.

For more information about becoming a sponsor go to www.livealifeworthcelebrating.com

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Concert 17-East Rutherford, New Jersey

Community and Family

Wyckoff, New Jersey is listed as the hometown of the Jonas Brothers. The boys were born in New Jersey, Texas and Arizona. Currently they reside in Dallas and Los Angeles. Each location has a specialness for them, but New Jersey is home. And with Kevin's recent engagement to a young woman named Danielle, it is even more evident. (Congratulations to them!)

I sat in section 108 last night. It is the center of the stage, I was in the 7th row, eye level with the band, and the seat was next to the underground tunnel where the band emerges to go to the stage. These were definitely the best seats I ever had at any show in my entire life.

Every evening the show is great and I have seen some that are phenomenal. But, this was like being in someone's home. It felt like the arena was filled with only the people who have watched and supported the Jonas Brothers for a long time. And yes, Danielle was there with her family and bodyguards for both nights of the show. She sat a few rows away from me for the last two nights.

After the song, Live to Party, they leaned back on each other and breathed for awhile. It was an example of how much energy they were putting into each of the shows last night. This is the song from their hit Disney show, JONAS. Nick plays the drums the whole time and does some amazing solos. Joe and Kevin get into a mechanical arm contraption and spray foam on half of the audience. Fun and energetic!

It was a privilege to be there last night. To see and feel the warmth of a community of friends and family. To watch the boys give their all and share themselves so beautifully and personally with this group of people.

I have been taking notes and observing the idea of community for the past few weeks.

When you follow a band for the summer, you feel like you know the band, and the people who work the sponsor booths. If you were a dead head who followed the Grateful Dead, like my friend, Kater or if you have ever followed a band, you know what I mean about the community that is formed. (my sister-in-law, Patty has seen many, many Tom Petty shows and would love a summer like this to follow him around the country. Go for it, Patty!!)

In the community this summer, there is Jeff who drives the Burger King - Apple Fries truck. As we were leaving DC on Monday at 11:45pm, I saw him and beeped. Yesterday, I asked if he heard me beep at him and I asked him why he went towards Annapolis to drive to New Jersey. Yes, he heard me beep and he had to go a different way because of the restrictions for trucks on 295 North, the direct path I was taking towards Baltimore. He let me know that the air conditionning was on in the truck, if I got too hot today.

Jason another BK guy gave me two Jonas Brothers gift cards yesterday to help us with food. I met him a few nights ago and he took a picture of us at my 40th concert.

Owen, Seth and Warren work for Verizon Wireless and have a band of their own called Raised by Radio. When I saw Owen at the start of the summer, his eyes lit up and he said, "Are you traveling across the country again?" He very excitedly gave me an update on the band and told me they were cutting a CD this summer. If you want to check them out go to www.myspace.com/raisedbyradio.

Michael from Verizon is also a musician. There is a recording studio bus sponsored by Verizon Wireless and they travel with musicians ten months out of the year. He has traveled with Green Day, Black eyed Peas, and Rhianna to name a few.

Things happen during the summer in this community. This summer we have celebrated Nick's trip to DC to talk to the Senate about continuing the funding for diabetes research. We celebrated the CD reaching #1, the second time on the cover of Rolling Stone Magazine.

Jordin Sparks has a CD release on July 21. Honor Society has a CD release on Sept 15 with pre-sales already. We celebrate their music and their success. It is an exciting time for them and for the community that loves them all.

The Wonder Girls now have their song Nobody available on CD and they were there yesterday with a brief introduction. (They were not at the concerts here, but will be on stage in Boston) They saw Hannah and invited her up to the stage for a picture. A bit later, Hannah pointed to me and asked them, if I could have a picture, too. They motioned for me to come up. We cheer them on and they embrace us, too, this summer.

Last summer we were in Irvine, CA for the birthday of Denise Jonas, in Atlanta for Demi Lovato’s birthday and Joe’s graduation celebration. We were in Anaheim for two days of filming the 3-D Jonas Brothers movie, in NYC for the CD release and in the DC area when the CD reached number one on the charts.

These are the public moments and there are many small moments in the concert. Celebrating the birthdays of two ten year olds at their first concert. Celebrating a graduation from high school. Celebrating and sharing our lives, as we wait for the concert to begin.

I am in awe of the beautiful communities all over this country. Women, men and children gathered and supporting each other. I am aware during this time in the world how we all need each other more than ever.

In Vancouver, on a wonderful afternoon spent on a boat called Loveable with my friend, Laura Mack and her husband, Andrew a few weeks ago (actually, it was Canada Day-July 1), I watched a boating community greet and support each other. When the boat docks, people on shore step forward to guide you in safely. Yes, part of it is self-preservation. The boaters want their own boats to be safe. , But as we docked on the island, three boaters appeared and their boats were safely on the other side of the dock. They assisted us and it made for smooth docking.

There were picnics and barbecues. People greeted each other and the children and dogs that accompanied many of them on their journey. A community of love and support and connection.

When I went home to Baltimore last week, I got up early one morning to get a cup of coffee and a breakfast sandwich at a local Zi Pani. I was excited to give a BK Jonas Brothers lanyard to one of the women who works there. Her daughter is crazy for the Jonas Brothers. The lanyards are only handed out at certain concerts and I had been saving this for her.

I drove up to the parking lot and it was so empty. I looked and the store had closed. After a moment of shock, I got back in my car, put my head on the steering wheel and cried. I felt the loss of this corner of the community. The place I shared my journey, picked up breakfast for the road, listened to the passions of the workers, heard the stories of their children, their health issues, their ups and downs. In the month Hannah and I have been on the road, the store closed with no warning. I had no chance to say goodbye. It really hit me hard.

We need each other. We need support for our dreams, our hopes, our wishes. We need each other to hold during the times of loss and sadness, during the times of joy and celebration.

Yes, the concert last night was a magnificent example of a community that has held the dreams with a family of musicians with great, big hearts.

Find ways today to support someone and to ask and receive support yourself. There is a flow to this giving and receiving and we are all in this together.