Reflections of...

“There are years that ask questions and years that answer.”  —Zora Neale Hurston

“Year's end is neither an end nor a beginning but a going on, with all the wisdom that experience can instill in us.”  ~Hal Borland

http://youtu.be/Jn2Lpmo3vq8  What Are You Doing New Year’s Eve~Nancy Wilson/1963-A VERY good year! ;-)

http://youtu.be/Ar9Ip7pSqEg  Same Old Lang Syne~Dan Fogelberg {My birthday buddy!}


Happy New Year’s Climbers!  I want to thank those of you who have spent the last several months here with me again since the blog got back up and running!  I cannot tell you how much it means to me that you take the time to read my writing–these posts.  I’ve been thinking a lot the last few days about this post — the last one of 2013, and what I wanted to say.  Gosh, that sounds odd to say that – the last of 2013.  WHERE has the time gone?  It truly does seem like just yesterday that THIS New Year was embarking.  My parents both have told me, at various times in my life, that the older one gets, the faster time goes.  I’m certainly finding that to be true.
Last year, at this time, I was gearing up for a personal milestone year for myself.  However, we were also preparing for a surgery that my husband would have on January 3rd for a disc fusion that would keep him out of work for three months and in physical therapy for a couple more.  We were getting all the bad stuff out of the way so that the rest of the year would be smooth sailing...that’s what we were planning for on our end.  Have you ever heard that old adage, the best laid plans?  Hm...yes.  2013 would prove to be that all-encompassing mix of the best and worst of times, as Dickens once wrote about.
Tom made it through his surgery with flying colors.  His recovery was a long, hard, climb back for him to regain his strength and stamina, but he did it like an athlete in training.  I’m always amazed by his diligence and perseverance!  His focus is intent and unwavering.  He continues to be an example to me in many things, but this, perhaps, is his greatest - the way he keeps on keeping on no matter the obstacle in his path.  Gosh, I admire that more than I can express!
Spring brought us to our 18th wedding anniversary on the 24th anniversary of our first date. Yeah, we planned it that way so that we’d always remember that special night when we first went out, coupled with that special night when we said we wanted to spend all of our nights together!  We spoke of all the changes we’ve seen in our lives, since that day in April when we exchanged vows, and rings and names...so many changes.  Still, we hold hands and stick together.  I can’t imagine it any other way.  I don’t think he can either.  It’s a blessing when you find your soul’s mate. It’s a divine comfort.  I wish it for everyone!
2013 also brought a new friend in my life.  It is always a blessing when life bestows upon us the bountiful boon of a friendship – the kind of friendship that George Eliot wrote about when she penned, “Oh, the comfort, the inexpressible comfort of feeling safe with a person, having neither to weigh thoughts nor measure words, but pouring them all out, just as they are, chaff and grain together, certain that a faithful hand will take and sift them, keep what is worth keeping, and with a breath of kindness blow the rest away.”  It was just like that...talk came easily as did the laughter—common interests kept aligning, like stars in the heavens, making you realize that it was something truly heaven-sent.  It is an amazing thing when you discover a friend who shares many similar likes, and it’s always a gift when you can learn something new from someone.  And, I have.
Early summer brought a health scare for me: a BIG one!  Life sometimes gives us those “slow me down, Lord! Moments”, or “wake up calls”, and I got one in July.   It is every woman’s fear: to get the call from one’s doctor informing you that there’s a “problem” with your mammogram.  It is a moment that gives you pause.  It’s hard to truly describe what fear feels like other than to say it’s akin to something that grips your insides with a fist and holds so tightly that you almost can’t breathe.  I remember that July Thursday so vividly, when I went to deliver previous mammogram results and follow up, after that first call informing me of a possible problem.  The worst thing in the world is to go into the weekend with something like that hanging over your head!  You try not to let your mind go to the worse case scenario, but, invariably, it does.  I tried to be brave on my own – just me and Tom knowing about it.  {I failed miserably at that-was a basket case...} I didn’t want to talk too much about it with him, because I could tell he was concerned about it on his own, and I didn't want to upset him further.  We spoke a little.  He reassured me that it would be okay. My gut gnawed over it though.  At 4 p.m. that Friday, I called to find out what was going on, and was told that they’d not gotten the results back yet from my comparison that was needed to determine if more, advanced tests should be done.  I was told that they’d call me first thing Monday morning, which meant that I had to suffer through the weekend not knowing if there was a cancer growing in my left breast.  I can tell you that two days NEVER felt so long! NEVER.  The more you try not to think about something like that, the more your mind focuses on it.  I prayed a lot...I thought a lot about my friend, Sheri.  My heart spoke to her.  In my quiet moments, I tried to mentally prepare for the dreaded scenario, but my mind wouldn't let me go there.  Do not give power to an unknown.  Wait.  And, so I did...
Monday morning FINALLY came as did the call.  It was not positive news, and being told that I was being sent to a radiologist in Richmond literally took me to my knees.  Have you ever felt a room close in on you? That was the feeling that came, aside from a true sense of fear take root.  I immediately called my friend, Luci, who is also an OB-GYN.  She talked me down and through the fear.  She told me what to expect, and what it all might mean – what it probably was.  She offered to consult if I needed her that Wednesday, if the news wasn’t good, and told me to give her cell phone number to Tom.  She’d be on standby.  It is a double blessing to have a dear friend who is also this kind of doctor.  "Don't worry, Jhilly!" she said to me. "Whatever it is! We'll get through it.  I'll be there with you every step of the way if you need me!"  What a comfort! It gave me peace to hear that!  I felt a level of calm return.  After I spoke with Luci, I shot off an email to another dear friend, Erika, who immediately focused my energy on prayer and meditation.  I also called my A.B. who also has a way of putting things into a calm perspective as well for me.  These friends grounded me, and helped get me through one of the scariest moments of my life.  Do you have friends who you can feel with you in moments such as this?  I felt them with me as I went in Wednesday morning for the second follow-up exam - especially from an email Erika sent me at 5 am her time.  "I'm with you, Jhilly! I'm here!"  It brought tears to my eyes when I received it - to know she was up and praying for all to be healthy and well!  I would know when I left that office that morning whether or not I had cancer, but no matter the outcome, in THAT moment, I felt stronger! I WAS stronger!   Though my husband and I were on pins and needles on the inside, I had powerful women in my corner, however ready to fight with me-for me, if need be...one in Chicago ready to talk strategy if it came down to it, one in Maryland bee-lining her faith for a positive outcome regarding my circumstance straight to God in prayer, and the other in California in early morning prayer and mediation doing her own special offering of healing on my behalf. It was an awesome feeling to feel that kind of power, love and support in my corner.  Other friends were praying for me as well. There is power in it, I tell you!  A mighty fortress surrounded me....I truly felt lifted up.
I knew when I sat in the waiting room with the other women waiting for results, knowing that my husband was in the outside waiting room and looked up and saw a picture of a white, sandy beach with a tree that had coconuts hanging from it that it was going to be okay.  It was a sign...I believe in them.  It was the first time in nearly a week that I felt a smile come.  No more had that happened, then I was called back to see the doctor.  I went and got Tom.  He squeezed my hand as we waited to hear the results.  When the doctor said that it was all clear - that there was no cancer, I exhaled.  Then, I asked him to repeat it, and I watched his lips closely as he said the words again.  Only then did I felt the relief wash over me as I looked to my husband, and we hugged.  He had told me it would be okay.  It was nice to know it.
“My God! My God!” I cried.  And, I DID cry.  “Thank you!” It was all I could say.  But, as Meister Eckart stated, “if the only prayer you ever say in your entire life is ‘thank you’, it will be enough.”
It was one of those moments when you know that you just caught a fortunate, break because you were just sitting on the cusp of something that could have gone the other way.  I couldn’t wait to get home to let Luci, Karen, and Erika know that all was well – that their prayers and positive energy had worked and seen me through.  It’s the kind of experience that you can never adequately express your gratitude about, but I hope they know much I appreciated their love and support in that moment.  It meant EVERYTHING!  All my friends who prayed  during that experience will never know how much it truly meant to have that grace on my side.  It was a life-lesson, and the lesson is this: the time is now!  Don’t take anything for granted – not one, single thing.  I remember hearing, “Live Like You Were Dying” run through my mind as we walked out of that office later that morning.  It’s a wonderful feeling to have a new lease on life.  And, I did...boy, did I!
After that, the sky was the limit...my 50th birthday was approaching, and we were going to New Orleans with family and dear, old friends - my oldest in the world. I've known Terri for 45 of my 50 years.  We were best friends when I was little. Her mother was my mother's bestie too.  It was the perfect compliment to that week having Terri and Mrs. Lombardo there with us.   To say that this was a special time was a gross understatement!  I had never been to New Orleans before, and it gets in your blood!  The food; the music; the people; the culture...it’s ALL incredible! It takes root.  We loved it!  [NOLA with Kathy & Paul was another treasured experience & my birthday lunch at Mr. B's with Tom, Mom, my brother and everyone...the jazz at Fritzel's - OMG! BEYOND good!]   I can’t adequately express all the special moments I-we had there.  I can honestly say though that if you want to blow the lid off, New Orleans is the place to do it!  It was a grand experience, rich with memories that linger.  Still...
September and October were our “circle of life” moments.  We lost a brother, and gained a brother.
It is an indescribable moment when you get a phone call and learn that your husband’s brother has died at the age of 56.  It’s one of those moments when you say, “what?”, because you don’t think you could have possibly heard the telling of information correctly the first time it's imparted to you.  When you realize that you did hear correctly, everything else becomes surreal.   So it went the next few weeks for us as we muddled through the gathering of information as to what happened and when - as arrangements were made and a trip to Florida was planned to honor and remember him.  It still seems like a bad dream...some things in life are like that.
October came with a new beginning for our sister, Kathy, as she remarried, and we added another brother to our family.  It was a wonderful celebration, and a true confirmation that, sometimes, when we least expect it, life does give us second chances.  It was a gratitude moment for our family.  God blesses us with those when we are most in need of them, and it was a much needed joy, I must tell you!  We love Paul not simply because he put a happy light back in Kathy's eyes, and a genuine smile on her face again, although those were BIG +'s in our books.  He's a good guy, and they make a great couple.  Once again, all is well for Kathy, and for that, we offer praise.
It’s been a full year.  There have been incredible highs and lows.  Life.  That is the stuff of it: incredible highs and lows.  2013 gave us several of each.  It is a year that will forever be a memorable one in our families history.  Now, as the clock approaches midnight, my hope is that 2014 will a good one for all of us – the whole world over.
My mother told me that when you hit the age of 50, you finally come into your own.  You know yourself. You’re comfortable with your thoughts and speak your mind freely.  You care less whether others do or don’t like who you’ve become.   The days of  “impressing” are gone.  You are who you are and YOU know who you are! People can either take you or leave you.  If they choose to leave, you’re less inclined to fight for them to stay, because you’ve learned that not everyone’s place in your life is a permanent one.  And, so it is, and so it goes...
So, let me speak my mind in this moment as a new year dawns: I hope we all do better in the coming year with one another regarding patience, tolerance, understanding, compassion, and forgiveness.  The answer still and always will be love.  Only love.  It is the true healer.  I hope we all dispel more positive energy than negative.  I hope we judge less, and learn to work together more.  I hope the sun sets gently on your days and the moon shines brightly to see you through your nights.  And, I hope when we gather next year, we can look back and say, “Wow! What an awesome year 2014 was!”
It’s time to tuck 2013 away in the place where past years go: safely in our hearts and minds where memories live and thrive.   So long 2013! You will not be forgotten!
Happy New Year Friends! May it be your best!  May you be blessed with good health and fortune and love overflowing...May you sparkle and shine brightly in the coming year...Shine! Shine! Shine!
   

http://youtu.be/6pfA_K9dUjI Auld Lang Syne~Kenny G {Still chokes me up to watch this...}
http://youtu.be/yoRpWEE-E0Q White Sandy Beach~Israel "IZ" Kamakawiwo'ole
http://youtu.be/JjRXGqRofE4 Live Like You Were Dying~Tim McGraw {Live It, Friends!}
http://youtu.be/T3JzcCviNDk It's Always Now~Sam Harris {I listened to this a LOT this year!}

God Bless Us, Everyone!

http://youtu.be/_qCWIWI1ClM  Shine~David Gray ~ Now, go! Shine your light beautifully and brilliantly in 2014 for ALL the world to see! Be a blessing!  I wish nothing less for each of you.  I’ll see you on the Beanstalk....

A Cup of Christmas Tea

http://youtu.be/ROX5gUWS7mo Joy~George Winston {You can find this track on "Heavenly Christmas" cd - pure bliss!  Enjoy...}

by Tom Hegg

The log was in the fireplace, all spiced and set to burn.
At last the yearly Christmas race was in the clubhouse turn.
The cards were in the mail, all the gifts beneath the tree,
And 30 days reprieve till Visa could catch up with me.

Though smug satisfaction seemed the order of the day,
Something still was nagging me and would not go away.
A week before, I'd gotten a letter from my old, great Aunt.
It read: "Of course I'll understand completely if you can't,
But, if you find you have some time, how wonderful if we
Could have a little chat and share a cup of Christmas tea."
She'd had a mild stroke that year, which crippled her left side.
Though house bound now my folks had said it hadn't hurt her pride.
They said: "She'd love to see you. What a nice thing it would be,
For you to go and maybe have a cup of Christmas tea."
But boy! I didn't want to go. Oh, what a bitter pill...
To see an old relation and how far she'd gone downhill.
I remembered her as vigorous, as funny and as bright.
I remembered Christmas Eves, when she regaled us half the night.
I didn't want to risk all that. I didn't want the pain.
I didn't need to be depressed. I didn't need the strain.
And, what about my brother? Why not him? She's his aunt, too!
I thought I had it justified, but then before I knew...
The reasons not to go I so painstakingly had built,
Were cracking wide and crumbling in an acid rain of guilt.
I put on boots and gloves and cap, shame stinging every pore
And armed with squeegee, sand and map, I went out my front door.
I drove in from the suburbs to the older part of town -
The pastels of the newer homes gave way to gray and brown.
I had that disembodied feeling as the car pulled up,
And stopped beside the wooden house,
That held the Christmas cup.
How I got up to her door, I really couldn't tell . . .
I watched my hand rise up and press the button of the bell.
I waited, aided by my nervous rocking to and fro.
And, just as I was thinking I should turn around and go...
I heard the rattle of the china in the hutch against the wall.
The triple beat of two feet and a crutch came down the hall.
The clicking of the door latch and the sliding of the bolt,
And, a little swollen struggle popped it open with a jolt.
She stood there pale and tiny, looking fragile as an egg.
I forced myself from staring at the brace that held her leg.
And though her thick bifocals,
Seemed to crack and spread her eyes,
Their milky and refracted depths lit up with young surprise.
"Come in! Come in!" She laughed the words.
She took me by the hand.
And, all my fears dissolved away as if by her command.
We went inside and then before I knew how to react,
Before my eyes and ears and nose
Was Christmas past . . . alive . . . intact!
The scent of candied oranges, of cinnamon and pine,
The antique wooden soldiers in their military line,
The porcelain Nativity I'd always loved so much,
The Dresden and the crystal I'd been told I mustn't touch.
My spirit fairly bolted, like a child out of class
And danced among the ornaments of calico and glass.
Like magic, I was six again, deep in a Christmas spell,
Steeped in the million memories the boy inside knew so well.
And here among old Christmas cards so lovingly displayed,
A special place of honor for the ones we kids had made.
And there, beside her rocking chair, the center of it all
My great Aunt stood and said
How nice it was that I had come to call.
I sat and rattled on about the weather and the flu,
She listened very patiently then smiled and said, "What's new?"
Thoughts and words began to flow. I started making sense.
I lost the phony breeziness I use when I get tense.
She was still passionately interested in everything I did.
She was positive. Encouraging - like when I was a kid.
Simple generalities still sent her into fits.
She demanded the specifics . . . the particulars . . . the bits.
We talked about the limitations that she'd recently had to face.
She spoke with utter candor and with humor and good grace.
Then defying the reality of crutch and straightened knee
On wings of hospitality she flew to brew the tea.
I sat alone with feelings that I hadn't felt in years.
I looked around at Christmas through a thick hot blur of tears.
And, the candles and the holly she'd arranged on every shelf,
The impossibly good cookies she still somehow baked herself.
But these rich and tactile memories became quite pale and thin,
When measured by the Christmas
My great Aunt kept deep within.
Her body halved and nearly spent, but my great Aunt was whole.
I saw a Christmas miracle, the triumph of a soul.
The triple beat of two feet and a crutch came down the hall.
The rattle of the china in the hutch against the wall.
She poured two cups, she smiled, then she handed one to me.
And then, we settled back and had a cup of Christmas tea...

~This is one of my favorite Christmas traditions - reading this poem and having a cup of Christmas tea. I hope you'll pick up the tradition along with me and share the story with your loved ones.  Feel the simple joy in it & pass it on...

Blessings~
Jhill

When Life Was a Cabaret...

“There is no more beautiful musical instrument than the voice of Nancy LaMott.” -Bob Harrington

                                                                           Nancy LaMott

                                                   December 30, 1951-December 13, 1995

“Be nice, stay sweet, and recognize the worth of every person you meet.”  Nancy’s Motto

http://youtu.be/zY3ggb65vsc  We Live On Borrowed Time~Nancy LaMott

http://youtu.be/3lGGZ390p-w Listen To My Heart~Nancy LaMott

http://youtu.be/KAsfxd0wgCM What’s Good About Goodbye~The Promise~Nancy LaMott

http://youtu.be/k9gHB6yOmFU I Want To Be Around~Nancy LaMott

http://youtu.be/4YfS5CbAfgs  I’ll Be Here With You~Nancy LaMott

http://youtu.be/ERs4lujJnKk  How Deep Is The Ocean~Nancy LaMott

http://youtu.be/qYI6ZfwGXBg Where Do You Start~Nancy LaMott

http://youtu.be/3TAyZlWhaXQ Remember/Always~Nancy LaMott

http://youtu.be/-QUS6oW_Dx4 I’ll Be Home For Christmas~Nancy LaMott

http://youtu.be/z0W0ZUz1Amw Moon River~Nancy LaMott {Her last performance/live-December 4th, 1995; she would die of uterine cancer 9 days later...}

Have you ever heard of Nancy LaMott?  

The first time I’d ever heard of her was on December 14th, 1995, when Kathie Lee Gifford informed the viewing audience on Live With Regis and Kathie Lee that Nancy had died the previous night.  It was a sad telling: a beautiful, young, cabaret singer had succumbed to uterine cancer at the too-young age of 43.  Sadder still, her actor-boyfriend, Peter Zapp, had married her just an hour before she had died.   It was the saddest fairy-tale ending I’d ever heard.  I was moved to tears over a woman who I’d never met, didn’t know, and, until that day, had never heard of.... Still, her story touched something in me.  I was moved beyond words.   Her story has stayed with me all these years...

Back then, I remember thinking what a special man Peter was to have given her that gift before she passed: the gift of marriage, yet what a cruel twist to die on your wedding night.  Sad isn’t even the appropriate word for something like that.   After the segment ended, I couldn’t get the story out of my mind.  I had felt crummy before the show began — wicked sore throat and feverish from head to toe, now I felt bluer than blue, with a healthy dose of depressed heaped on top of the bronchitis that I was battling.  

I couldn’t focus on the show anymore.  I picked up my cup of hot tea, put a couple of cough drops in the pocket of my robe,  grabbed the box of Kleenex and went into the front room where the computer was.   I typed Nancy’s name into the search engine, and looked at the things that came up.  There was a recording from 1989 called Where Do You Start?  I sipped my tea as I listened to it, and I recall the three words that came to my mind as I heard her rich, smooth, soulful voice for the first time: Oh. My. God!   That’s what your brain collects and piece-meals together as reaction, when it’s too verklempt to fathom anything else as proper response.  Plain and simple, I was gobsmacked by her voice; her clarity; her styling – the overall beauty and grace of it all. Gobsmacked — utterly astonished.  Utterly.  

I’ve picked 10 of Nancy’s songs I especially love for your listening pleasure–see for yourself.  Regardless, I’m a fan, and I remember her today. 

I was listening to her music today, and couldn’t help but wonder just how big she might have become had cancer not taken her?  I think she’d have made it big!  She was already on her way when that crummy hand she’d been dealt surfaced!   Thank God she left us well-endowed with a wealth of her music!  Therein lies the blessing for the rest of us!

If you’d like to read more about Nancy, please go to her website which I’ve listed at the end of this entry.  There is a lot of information there.    I’ve also listed an article from the Wall Street Journal that I enjoyed reading.  Likewise, you can purchase Nancy’s cd’s either from her website or Amazon.com.  Worth every penny!

I don’t know how many people know of Nancy LaMott, but I thought she deserved to be remembered today because it’s important to remember.  It matters. 

And, one final thought: a special message to her from those of us who love her music.  She’ll get this and so will they:

“We'll meet you at the end, Nancy...”

http://www.nytimes.com/1995/12/16/arts/nancy-lamott-43-pop-singer-of-a-clear-all-american-style.html link to Nancy LaMott's Obituary In the New York Times, 12/16/95

http://www.nancylamott.com/images/WallStreetArticle.jpg 

http://www.nancylamott.com/welcome.htm Nancy LaMott website

http://youtu.be/7Scvdf0NdX4 The Secret of Life~Nancy LaMott

Songs of the Season

The best of all gifts around any Christmas tree:  the presence of a happy family all wrapped up in each other.  ~Burton Hillis

There is no story or personal reflections to this post. It is simply a listing of feel-good, Christmas tunes. I wanted to put together a compilation of the songs that I love and enjoy listening to during this season. There are a few missing songs - perhaps, for another year, and there are some repeats from the first year I did this. I couldn't help myself! Some songs bear a re-listening! ;-) I hope you’ll spend a little time here over the next few days, at your leisure, and share these songs with me. Get a cup of tea, coffee or cocoa and a plate of Christmas cookies, turn on your tree's lights, sit back and relax. The season is truly upon us now. I wish you the happiest of holidays and a joyous listening experience...

NOTE: To facilitate listening: click on the blue link; listen to the song then hit your back arrow on your computer which will bring you back to the blog entry and click on the next blue link....and so forth, and so on....

http://youtu.be/lx_9QvtoVuo  Happy Holiday~Steve Lawrence & Eydie Gorme
http://youtu.be/I0e_bktNKLE Christmas Bells~Patti Page
http://youtu.be/CxymT2s5QDs Angels We Have Heard On High/Joy To The World~Michael Crawford
http://youtu.be/ZLC4t21_aT4  Let It Snow~The Manhattan Transfer
http://youtu.be/n543eKIdbUI Angels We Have Heard On High Instrumental~The Piano Guys
http://youtu.be/p07T4dlw2cc Jingle Bells~Frank Sinatra
http://youtu.be/rJY1s0oOQDY Ole Santa~Dinah Washington
http://youtu.be/f3d4bkTQIHI I’ll Be Home For Christmas~Josh Groban
http://youtu.be/IB8w2FK98sg Do You Hear What I Hear~Whitney Houston
http://youtu.be/Y-ImRQuFSXo We Three Kings/Carol of the Bells~Kenny G
http://youtu.be/E5jYbtUzZhY  Christmas Mem’ries~Barbra Streisand
http://youtu.be/y_xuGxdqKU0 The Twelve Days of Christmas~Roger Whittaker
http://youtu.be/bJ73_HcR1VA The Bells of St. Paul~Linda Eder
http://youtu.be/hG_M-BLVSIk It’s Beginning to Look A Lot Like Christmas~Perry Como
http://youtu.be/YvI_FNrczzQ  Christmas Time is Here~Vince Guaraldi Trio
http://youtu.be/O3wujkozv9E A Baby Changes Everything~Faith Hill
http://youtu.be/YTnow1IOz7k The Little Drummer Boy~Neil Diamond
http://youtu.be/n0tryKdpl0s O Come All Ye Faithful~Celtic Women
http://youtu.be/SOszvL9lgSs The Christmas Song~Nat King Cole
http://youtu.be/7S-IidmcSN8 White Christmas~Bing Crosby, Danny Kaye, Rosemary Clooney, Vera Ellen {let’s see if you catch the twist in this one}
http://youtu.be/yts9sQic3Q0 O Holy Night~Linda Eder
http://youtu.be/Ahj5RbcDGDE The First Noel~Andy Williams
http://youtu.be/yeteg5fNZfM The Bells of Dublin/Christmas Eve~The Chieftains {For Tom}
http://youtu.be/_EXCv7REDoM The Seven Rejoices of Mary~Loreena McKennitt
http://youtu.be/SFjMPaOBzXc Hark! The Herald Angels Sing~The Mormon Tabernacle Choir
http://youtu.be/iBZKnt02TTE  When My Heart Finds Christmas~Harry Connick, Jr.
http://youtu.be/UfHQ8CMZHMA Christmas Canon~Trans-Siberian Orchestra
http://youtu.be/c3q3AUp_-Ks Celebrate Me Home~Donna Summer {Sheri's Song}
http://youtu.be/FL6_lPd7kkY  What Christmas Is All About~Charlie Brown/Linus
http://youtu.be/JeGh4IxA74c Just In Time For Christmas~Nancy LaMott
http://youtu.be/9nt5fqHNf2Y O Christmas Tree~Kenny G
http://youtu.be/7qRbXNABLQg Silver Bells/Happy Holidays~Williams-Osmonds
http://youtu.be/bDzHLx3494w Silent Night~The Piano Guys
http://youtu.be/JERkrHv5qMY We Wish You A Merry Christmas & A Happy New Year~Bing Crosby

New Year’s Extra Tracks:

http://youtu.be/Jn2Lpmo3vq8 What Are You Doing New Year’s Eve~Nancy Wilson [from 1963, a VERY good year! ;-) ]
http://youtu.be/AhdxjcjzCAM Same Old Lang Syne~Dan Fogelberg
http://youtu.be/6pfA_K9dUjI  Auld Lang Syne Millennium Mix~Kenny G
http://youtu.be/7vfBVbIe25g Auld Lang Syne~Guy Lombardo


Merry Christmas, Everybody, & God Bless Us Everyone!
I wish you  Health, Happiness and Blessings overflowing in the New Year.
And remember, as W. T. Ellis once said, “It is Christmas in the heart that puts Christmas in the air.”  I hope these songs fill your heart with the wonder, magic, peace and the love that is this season...

Always love~

Jhill

We Gather Together

"We can only be said to be alive in those moments when our hearts are conscious of our treasures." -Thorton Wilder

http://youtu.be/7NSQLMPUK-8 Thanksgiving Song~Mary Chapin Carpenter
http://youtu.be/LA05aiIvl20  Thanksgiving-George Winston
http://youtu.be/xBtKRKM3a9o  We Gather Together~Thanksgiving Blessings

"As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them."  ~John Fitzgerald Kennedy


Thanksgiving.  It comes every year on the fourth Thursday in the month of November. It is our national holiday, when we give thanks for the bounty of the yearly harvest and the many blessings bestowed upon us. In the United States, our Thanksgiving holiday is rooted in English tradition as well as with prayers and ceremonies that we recognize dating back to 1621, and that first feast of Thanksgiving which took place at Plymouth Rock.   Pilgrims feasted for three days, celebrated and offered thanks for the abundance of  harvest.  Edward Winslow an attendee at the first gathering in 1621 recorded that 90 Native American Indians were in attendance at that first Thanksgiving with the Pilgrims.
Did you know that Thanksgiving has been an annual celebration by Presidential proclamation since 1863, when President Abraham Lincoln proclaimed: a national day of "Thanksgiving and Praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the Heavens", and by state legislation since the times of our Founding Fathers?  It was set to be observed as the fourth Thursday in November by federal legislation in 1941.  As stated, the holiday began as a traditional celebration of the yearly harvest.
Here is an excerpt of Edward Winslow's personal account of that first Thanksgiving:

"Our harvest being gotten in, our governor sent four men on fowling, that so we might after a special manner rejoice together after we had gathered the fruits of our labor. They four in one day killed as much fowl as, with a little help beside, served the company almost a week. At which time, amongst other recreations, we exercised our arms, many of the Indians coming amongst us, and among the rest their greatest kingMassasoit, with some ninety men, whom for three days we entertained and feasted, and they went out and killed five deer, which we brought to the plantation and bestowed on our governor, and upon the captain and others. And although it be not always so plentiful as it was at this time with us, yet by the goodness of God, we are so far from want that we often wish you partakers of our plenty."

So once in every year we throng
Upon a day apart,
To praise the Lord with feast and song
In thankfulness of heart.

~Arthur Guiterman, The First Thanksgiving

As stated above, Presient Lincoln proclaimed there be a national day of Thanksgiving to be celebrated the last Thursday in November.  Here is his proclamation, dated October 3, 1863:

The year that is drawing towards its close, has been filled with the blessings of fruitful fields and healthful skies. To these bounties, which are so constantly enjoyed that we are prone to forget the source from which they come, others have been added, which are of so extraordinary a nature, that they cannot fail to penetrate and soften even the heart which is habitually insensible to the ever watchful providence of Almighty God. In the midst of a civil war of unequalled magnitude and severity, which has sometimes seemed to foreign States to invite and to provoke their aggression, peace has been preserved with all nations, order has been maintained, the laws have been respected and obeyed, and harmony has prevailed everywhere except in the theatre of military conflict; while that theatre has been greatly contracted by the advancing armies and navies of the Union. Needful diversions of wealth and of strength from the fields of peaceful industry to the national defence, have not arrested the plough, the shuttle, or the ship; the axe had enlarged the borders of our settlements, and the mines, as well of iron and coal as of the precious metals, have yielded even more abundantly than heretofore. Population has steadily increased, notwithstanding the waste that has been made in the camp, the siege and the battle-field; and the country, rejoicing in the consciousness of augmented strength and vigor, is permitted to expect continuance of years, with large increase of freedom.

No human counsel hath devised nor hath any mortal hand worked out these great things. They are the gracious gifts of the Most High God, who, while dealing with us in anger for our sins, hath nevertheless remembered mercy.

"It has seemed to me fit and proper that they should be solemnly, reverently and gratefully acknowledged as with one heart and voice by the whole American people. I do therefore invite my fellow citizens in every part of the United States, and also those who are at sea and those who are sojourning in foreign lands, to set apart and observe the last Thursday of November next, as a day of Thanksgiving and Praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the Heavens. And I recommend to them that while offering up the ascriptions justly due to Him for such singular deliverances and blessings, they do also, with humble penitence for our national perverseness and disobedience, commend to his tender care all those who have become widows, orphans, mourners or sufferers in the lamentable civil strife in which we are unavoidably engaged, and fervently implore the interposition of the Almighty Hand to heal the wounds of the nation and to restore it as soon as may be consistent with the Divine purposes to the full enjoyment of peace, harmony, tranquility and Union.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand, and caused the seal of the United States to be affixed.

Done at the city of Washington, this third day of October, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, and of the independence of the United States the eighty-eighth."

                                     "All that we behold is full of blessings." ~William Wordsworth

~Since 1924, the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade is held in upper Manhattan.  

~Since 1947, the National Turkey Federation has presented the President with a live turkey.  President John F. Kennedy was the first President to spare the turkey. Ronald Reagan is the first President to have granted the turkey a presidential pardon in 1987, and sent the turkey to a petting zoo.  In 1989, President Bush made the turkey pardon an annual tradition.

http://youtu.be/m57gzA2JCcM Alice's Restaurant-Arlo Guthrie

"Remember God's bounty in the year.  String the pearls of His favor.  Hide the dark parts, except so far as they are breaking out in light!  Give this one day to thanks, to joy, to gratitude!"  ~Henry Ward Beecher

"If the only prayer you ever say in your entire life is, 'thank you,' that will be enough."  ~Meister Eckhart

Thanksgiving

Now gracious plenty rules the board,  And in the purse is gold; By multitudes in glad accord  Thy giving is extolled. Ah, suffer me to thank Thee, Lord,  For what thou dost withhold! I thank Thee that howe'er we climb  There yet is something higher; That though through all our reach of time  We to the stars aspire, Still, still beyond us burns sublime  The pure sidereal fire! I thank Thee for the unexplained,  The hope that lies before, The victory that is not gained,—  O Father, more and more I thank Thee for the unattained,  The good we hunger for! I thank Thee for the voice that sings  To inner depths of being; For all the spread and sweep of wings,  From earthly bondage freeing; For mystery—the dream of things  Beyond our power of seeing! by Florence Earle Coates/Nov. 1905 http://youtu.be/SSKIVf0hSn0 Thankful~Josh Groban Now, go and tell those who have touched your life what a blessing they are to you! Happy Thanksgiving, Friends!  May your day be abundantly blessed today~ And, know that in my heart especially today, that I thank God upon every remembrance of you....Blessings my friends, With love & gratitude, Jhill

Old Friends

Sheri Soulis Jenkins, December 21, 1963-November 22, 2002

But if the while I think on thee, dear friend,
All losses are restored and sorrows end.
~William Shakespeare

“Best friends are made through smiles and tears and sometimes that fades over
miles and years....but I knew right away when I saw you again, Emily~we’ll always be friends...”
                            From the song, “Emily” by Beth Nielsen Chapman

http://youtu.be/Ul2hSba5pOs Old Friends~Bookends/Simon & Garfunkel
http://youtu.be/qxd-7dTsUfQ  You and Me Against the World~Helen Reddy
http://youtu.be/ttqgwlCsXZM SNL-Point/Counterpoint Skit~Jane, You Ignorant _____!

Eleven years ago, I lost my first friend to cancer — one of my oldest.
The first, close friend we lose to death is a life-changing event.  It brings mortality up close and personal to us.  When it happens early-on in life—it’s an indescribable, undefinable feeling.  As you get older, you begin to expect the passing of loved ones, but not when you’re 38.  Not when you’re young like that; when your child is five; and when you have so much life yet to live – so much still to contribute and give to the world.  You just don’t expect something like that to happen to anyone you know at 38 years old.  It’s a hard pill to swallow — one of those bitter ones that life sometimes deals us.
It sucks!  Plain and simple.
I met Sheri the summer of 5th grade moving into 6th.  Our parents worked at the same school: her father was the Assistant Principal, and my mother was the Administrative Assistant.  I was four months older than Sheri.  By the time our paths had crossed, I had already spent two years at Hendricks.  Sheri would be in the 6th grade at Hendricks the beginning of the school year like me, and our parents thought it would be good for us to meet – for her to have a friend at school when she began there.  Starting a new school can be a daunting and nightmarish thing - particularly for a young girl.
We hit it off immediately.  We met at school a couple of times a week and spent our mornings hanging out in the library, swinging on the playground [we loved that] and talking, walking around school and talking some more.  We’d eat our lunch sometimes out under a large Oak tree that was a favorite spot.  We didn’t have computers, tablets or video games back then.  We had to create our own fun and use our imaginations.  We both had good imaginations and always had a blast together.  After lunch, Mr. Soulis would give us each a dime, and we’d walk a couple of blocks up to the 7-11 and get an Icee and a nickle candy, then walk back to school talking all the while.  You may wonder what girls could possibly spend so much time talking about?  Trust me when I tell you that the topics are endless.   Good times...
Some Friday nights, I’d sleep over at her house.  Others, she’d sleep over at mine.  We’d go to the skating rink.  Gosh....we had SO much fun!  We’d stay up late into the night and do more of that marathon talking about everything and sometimes nothing in particular.  And, we’d laugh.  Oh, we laughed a lot.
As the summer wore down, we eagerly awaited the assignment of classes.  There were to be three 6th grade classes, we learned.  We prayed a lot that we’d get in the same class together.  We must have bugged our parents incessantly for weeks on end about putting us in the same class.
“It’s not done that way!” they both told us.
“Why not?” we asked.
“Because it’s not.”
“How is it done?” I asked my mother one day, not satisfied with that answer.
“It’s based on your grades and your test scores,” she told me.
“My grades and test scores are good,” I said.  “Are Sheri’s?”
“I can’t tell you that!” she said firmly.
I called Sheri.
“Are your grades and test scores good?”
“Yeah,” she said.  “Pretty good.  Why?”
“Mom said that the classes are based on that, and mine are good, but she wouldn’t tell me what yours are.  I hope they’re the same amount of good.  Has your father said anything?”
“No,” she said glumly.
I huffed.  “What good is it to have parents who work at the school if you can’t find anything out?”
“He’s pretty tight lipped about it,” she said.
“He’s not giving anything away at all?” I lamented.
“He’s got a good poker face,” she added.  “What about your Mom?”
“Nothing,” I sulked.  “They know how much this is killing us!  You’d think they’d have a little mercy!”
She laughed.  “It’ll be okay.”
“If you say so,” I said.
“I’ve got a feeling,” she added.
“I hope so.”
“Call me when you get your schedule in the mail,” she said.
“Okay, and you call me when you get yours.”
I remember when that call came.
“I got mine,” I told her.  “Did you get yours?”
“Yeah.”
“Who’d you get for Home Room?”
I remember closing my eyes and holding the phone white-knuckled as I waited for her to tell me what our fate was going to be for the school year.  Everything was riding on her answer. [That’s how it felt back then.]
“Mrs. Lester—Algebra.”
My hand fisted in victory as I squeezed it and happily squealed, “Yay and Yes!” into the phone.
“Oh my God!” she squealed back.  “Really?”
“Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!” I squealed louder as if the lottery was ours.
And we laughed and began to talk 90 to nothing as our excitement built for the upcoming school year.  Let me just say that’s the ONLY time in my life that I’ve ever been happy about a math class. [LOL]
We were inseparable back then.
I’ve written of Sheri before and of some of these events in our life, but not in detail.  The details are good and important.  They give insight into the specialness of our friendship.  I’d like to share some of those details today:
I remember we were both in debate club.  I’ll never forget one of the most gut-wrenching moments in that club for both of us was when we were pitted against each other in a debate.  It had never occurred to either of us that such a thing could happen–would be done. We always thought that we’d be on the same team of whatever debate was taking place.
Looking back on it, I’m sure the teacher [I won’t name her out of respect.] who oversaw that club thought it would make for a good debate.  Sheri and I were both smart young girls, we weren’t afraid to speak our minds, and we both had very definite ideas on things.  So, when the topic of which animal made a better pet came up, Sheri had answered cat, and I had answered dog.  Therein lied the making of a good debate. I felt sick to my stomach when it was announced that we’d be up against the other.  I looked over at her and saw that her face looked the way my stomach felt.  She didn’t want to do it either.    The point of a debate, after all, was to win – to beat the other person–to be victorious over them.
I remember we both left the club meeting that day, and we walked all the way over to the playground in silence.  She took a swing, and I took a swing.  We pushed ourselves back and forth for a minute or two in more silence.  I remember that conversation like it was yesterday.
“I don’t want to go against you like that,” I finally said.  “I don’t want to beat you or try to make myself look better than you.  It’s a stupid debate! You’re my best friend.”
She sighed relief that I’d said it.  “You’re my best friend too. I don’t want to beat you either,” she said.  “And, I don’t want to say anything that could make you upset with me.  I don’t want us to get angry with each other because of this debate.”
I looked over at her.  “So, what do we do?”
“Can we do a friendly point-counterpoint?” she asked, not certain if her suggestion made much sense.
I started to laugh and brought up Saturday Night Live’s version of this concept with Jane Curtain and Dan Aykroyd.
“I can,” I teased. “So long as you don’t call me an ignorant slut!”
Sheri doubled over in the swing laughing.
“I won’t if you won’t!” she agreed.
We were too young for that term to ever be applied to us, but it was a mood lightener and made for a good laugh between us.
She held her hand out, and we shook on it.
The outcome of that debate went like this: it was the first and only time in our school that a draw was called in a debate.  No one lost nor won.  We held our own against the other, which had never been anything up for debate.  We knew we could hold our own against the other.   What we did, however, was we played off of the other and the other’s information in a way that didn’t give a clear-cut win of which animal was the best household pet.  Sheri and I conspired together to make certain that was the end point to the debate–no clear winner. We worked REALLY hard practicing our responses together with each other to make certain that we kept the argument on equal ground.  We were very proud of that outcome.  I remember leaving the makeshift stage, stepping behind the curtain and us high-fiving each other before we hugged.  It was a relief that it was over! We had managed to pull it off.  We had argued our case without undermining it or each other.  I’ll tell you the secret to our success. I’ve never told this to anyone before, and I don’t think Sheri would mind: Sheri and I worked on each other’s arguments.  She gave me tips on what made a dog the better pet, and I gave her tips on why a cat was better one.   We figured if our voice was in both sides of the argument that it would level the overall field.  It worked.  We were never pitted against each other again.
Then, there was the cheerleading-pep club matter between us.
“Come on, Jhill!” she begged.  “Try out for cheerleading with me!”
“No way!” I said.
“Why not?” she asked, not understanding my reluctance.  “I want you to stand beside me and root for the home team.”
“How bout I stand in front of you and root for the home team,” I offered my alternative.
“Pep Club is not the same thing!” she pouted.
“I’m not trying out for cheerleading, Sheri!” I adamantly told her.
“Why not?” she pushed harder.
“I can’t do a split,” I rattled off.  “And, if I try to do a cartwheel, God only knows where I’ll land with that, and last and most importantly, you couldn’t pay me to wear that little shorty skirt you have to wear!”
“What’s the big deal with the skirt?” she said in an exasperated tone.
“Um....hello!” I shot back.  “I don’t have the legs for that like you do!”
She frowned. “Your closest friends are going out for cheerleading,” she told me something I already knew.  “You’re going to be the only one not out there with us.”
I looked at her as tears came.  Yeah.  That was true, and it hurt.  I didn’t like thinking about being left out.  But, I wouldn’t try for cheerleading.
“What?” she pled.  “Tell me.”
I remember my lip quivered when I told her the truth of the situation.  “I don’t want to embarrass myself!  I can’t do a split, and you know that you can’t make the squad if you can’t do that.  You’ve seen my cartwheel, which is crappy at best.  I don’t want to get out there and look like an idiot — have people laugh at me!  There’s nothing worse than people laughing at you!”
“They won’t laugh!” she tried to assure.
I gave her a look.  “Have YOU seen my cartwheel?”
She laughed.  It was okay.  I was going for the laugh then.
“There’s nothing wrong with knowing your limitations and knowing your strong suits,” I told her.  “I’ve got good hand motion, and I can jump up and down with the best of you, I’m full of pep and I can cheer my heart out, but I can’t do the rest of it, and the rest of it is important.  You KNOW it’s important!  Don’t ask me to make a fool of myself.”
Softly, she said, understanding. “I’d never ask you to do that.”
I nodded my appreciation and said cheerfully as I wiped my eyes.  “I’ll be good on the Pep Squad, but I won’t make the cheerleading team, if I try for it.  You and I both know that!”
It was a moment of vulnerability for me.  I opened myself up and showed it to her.  I didn’t need to say anything else.  She understood.   She didn’t want me to do anything I wasn’t comfortable in doing.   Sheri hugged me, and spoke no more of me going out for cheerleading.  Instead, we decided to bolster the Pep Club’s importance, mainly so that I wouldn’t feel out of the loop with the cheerleaders.  She and I, once again, worked in tandem playing off one another.  Sheri, with the other cheerleaders, would call out the letters — “Give me a R, Give me an A....” [Our team’s name was the Raiders] and I with my pom poms in hand and my Pep Squad jumpsuit would jump up and down and move my hands just as she did and give em right back to her.   It didn’t surprise her that I became President of the Pep Club.  She knew my strengths, just as I knew my weaknesses, and I acted upon them accordingly.  We were a good team.
There are so many stories I could tell. We had good times...so many of them.
A lot of things connected us – some private which I choose to keep that way, but there was a song back then, that made me think of us based on some of the things that we discussed with the other and went through.  The song was called “You and Me Against the World”.  It felt like that sometimes, and that’s okay.  As long as you’ve got a good friend–a best friend standing next to you when life throws stuff at you, it doesn’t seem so bad.
Ninth grade was the last year we shared together at Hendricks.  Afterward, we were off to high school.  I knew I was going to Bolles.  I remember when I found out that she was going to Wolfson.  It was a panic moment.  Things were going to change.  We were going in different directions, and I wasn’t going to be seeing her the way that I had for the previous four years.  It was disconcerting and unsettling.  We were best friends, and things were changing between us. We couldn’t stop it.
“You could always go to Wolfson,” she suggested.
I chuckled nervously.  “You could always go to Bolles.”
We both knew that our paths were set, and we actually couldn’t.  It was one of our first life-lessons.  It was a hard one – the letting go so that we could find our own ways.  But, there was a saying back then that we both loved and would prove true for us: “if you love something, set if free.  If it comes back to you, it’s yours.  If it doesn’t, it never was....”
“It’ll be okay,” she said.
“Promise?” I asked.
We pinky sweared on it.
As we both suspected and knew in our hearts, things did change when we went to other schools – new friends, new school interests.  The first time we got together after the new school year began, it felt awkward because we weren’t in the same place anymore, and we didn’t have the same things in common.  The friends she spoke of, I didn’t know and vice versa.  Her complaints about teachers meant nothing to me nor mine to her.   Slowly, over time, we simply began to check on one another through our parents.
I remember running into her one summer afternoon at Florida Junior College.  It was a wonderful run-in.  We laughed and hugged when we saw each other, then went for coffee, catching up in person for a change.
I remember the last thing I ever said to her in person, looking into her eyes, was how good it was to see her again.  She said it back to me.
“Let’s not wait so long next time to catch up,” I said.
She smiled and nodded.
“Let’s not,” she agreed.
Life and circumstances, however, can sometimes get in the way of best intentions.
As previously mentioned, my mother and her father remained friends.  Once again, Sheri and I reverted to keeping up with each other through them.  We would continue to do that over the years.
It’s how I found out that she was sick.  My mother called me the Monday after Thanksgiving in 2001 to tell me the news.  It was November 26th, and I’d not been home from work very long when the phone rang.   I will never forget the feeling that went through me when Mom told me that Sheri had been diagnosed with terminal cancer and given only four months to live.   Sucker-punched.  That’s what it felt like.
There have been a handful of times in my 50 years of life when something literally took me to my knees.  That news was one of those times.  I went numb.  I felt my knees buckle, and sat down before I fell down.  Everything inside me went shakey.   When I got off the phone, I cried a river.   I could not imagine what must have been going through her mind, nor could I fathom the fear she must have been feeling for so many different reasons?  My heart hurt so bad for her.  In that moment, I spiraled right back to that first summer when we met — when we were running around the school yard, playing and swinging and going to the 7-11 and talking non-stop about everything and any thing.  I didn’t sleep that night.  I kept trying to put myself in her place, and every time I tried to imagine it, I broke down and sobbed.  The moment my mother told me that Sheri was sick, the years melted away, and all that remained beneath the layers of it was my friend.  My dear friend from Jr. High School was in trouble — serious trouble.  I knew she was probably terrified.   I knew I would be.
The next day, I reached out over the miles and years and reconnected with her in the most delicate way I knew how.  I wrote her a letter.  I also went and bought her a teddy bear.  I squeezed it tight, giving it the biggest hug I could muster, and I told her that my hug was in there and whenever those moments came when she was scared or lonely or just needed a hug, to go to that bear and just hold on.  Sometimes, in life, we all need a little something extra to hold onto.  Knowing her, she’d try to be brave for everyone else.   I just wanted her to have something in her moments to cling to if she needed it.  I also wanted her to know that I was there, if she needed me.  Anything she needed, I was there for her.
My mother told me that Sheri was trying to put a book together for her daughter, Aliya.  Things she wanted her to know as she got older.  I thought about that–what a lovely idea that was – how much that would mean to her child as she got older and wanted to know what her mother thought about dating or high school or getting married.
I’ve been told by family members and several friends that I’m the memory keeper.  I remember everything.  I have one of “those” minds.  So, I began to write to Sheri weekly.  I recalled memories from our childhood in an effort–a hope to help her recall things for her daughter.  Her mother later told me that Sheri would read the letters and laugh and say in awe that she’d forgotten that particular memory until she’d read my letter, and it would all come back to her.  I also learned that she took that bear I sent to her chemotherapy appointments.  It meant a lot to know that.
I also had a group of friends called the prayer warriors begin to pray for her, because I believe so strongly in the power of prayer.   I will tell you that I breathed a sigh of relief when March came and went [that four month period] and Sheri was still with us.  On the months went, writing and sharing memories with her.
It was clear to me as November came that things were getting tougher for her.  I had told her in that first letter that I’d written to her to hold on for a miracle, because I believed in them.  I had hoped and prayed for a miracle of complete healing for her.  Sometimes though, the miracle is living eight months beyond what the doctors originally predicted for you.
My mother called me on the last Tuesday of her life and told me that she’d taken a turn, and to step up the prayers on her behalf and for the family.  I told her the Prayer Warriors were already round-the-clock praying for everyone.   My mother and I shared a teary moment together on the phone.  It was a comfort to me, and I remember wondering who was comforting Sheri’s mother and her daughter in that moment?  Her father—.   I cried some more.
Sheri’s last night on earth, one of my friend’s in Chicago, went to her Catholic church and prayed all night for her—holding vigil.  It was amazing that people who didn’t even know her were praying like that for her because they were my friends and loved me.  Ties that bind are strong ones and connect us all.   Through me, each of them said they felt they knew her.  It was such a lovely gesture.  The depths of friendship is a powerful well-spring.   It is one of my sources of greatest strength, and it did not fail me in that moment of need.
It’s odd, I woke up Friday morning the 22nd, not feeling well—feeling out of sorts.  I went to work, but around 10:30 a.m., I went to the ladies room and got sick to my stomach.  My boss saw me coming out of the restroom, and told me to go home.  I didn’t argue.
On my way home, I had to pull over.  Christmas songs had begun being played on the radio, and one came on that hit me hard.
I’ve asked before in my blog, if you all believe in signs?  I do.  The song that played on the radio in that moment seemed like a sign to me from God.  It was called, “Celebrate Me Home” by Kenny Loggins.  I call it Sheri’s song now.  I’d heard that song so many times before, but I’d never heard it.  Do you know what I mean?  Oh, I cried.  It wasn’t long after I got home that my mother called to tell me that Sheri had passed.  My heart already knew it.  I think my physical reaction at work had been because it sensed that she had finally left us.
She’s been gone 11 years today — Friday, November 22nd.  It’s just like it was then: a Friday, only her daughter is 16 now instead of five years old.  It gives me pause.
Next week, Aliya will turn 17.  Her birthday is one week to the day after her mother passed.  I remember last year when James, Sheri’s husband–Aliya’s father, send me Aliya’s Sweet 16th birthday invitation via email.  I took my laptop out on my back deck and sat looking at the pictures on it then out at the leaves in all of its autumn glory.  It was a beautiful day.  I thought of Sheri as I looked at all the pictures on the invitation of this young girl on the cusp of young womanhood.  I saw Aliya’s father in her, but I also saw traces of her mother, my childhood friend, in her as well.  Years.  More of them now had accumulated that Aliya had not shared with her mother than those that she had – twice as many more.  That fact always feels wrong to me.   She’s a beautiful young woman just like her mother was.  Smart.  She’s very involved in Girl Scouts. She has a lot of friends.  Sheri would be so proud of the young woman Aliya has become.  We spoke a lot about children and motherhood back when we were young girls.   I can’t help wishing somehow that she could be here to see her daughter almost all grown up.  I can’t help wishing somehow that Aliya could have gotten to have the opportunity to have known her mother as a woman and a friend not just as a mother the way that I’ve gotten to know mine over the years.  It is a most precious gift.  Oh....to have magical powers to make that so....but I digress.
At least they had five years together—of loving each other—of bonding—of experiences—of memories.  That means everything.  Though she had just a few short years with her daughter, Sheri made her imprint on Aliya.  There are echos of her that clearly resonate.  It is the gift of spiritual legacy.  For those of us who were blessed to have known and loved her, she left us richly endowed with her incredible grace notes.  The last year of her life, that’s what she was to me: a grace note, much like the one her mother found written to me among her personal effects after she had gone to heaven.  It was unfinished, like her life that ended too soon.  In the letter, Sheri was struggling to find a way to thank me for that last year.  She couldn’t find the words she wanted, and she didn’t finish it, but her mother thought I’d want it anyway.  She was right about that.  It came in my Christmas card just a month after her passing.  I remember the tears as I saw her handwriting and read the beginnings of her message that she’d been unable to find the words to finish.  It was alright.  We never needed words between us.  I knew what my role in the last year of her life had meant to her, and it meant SO much that it had mattered to her with ALL that she was dealing with to even try to tell me as much.  I remember clutching it to my heart as the tears came and looking upward as the words of Meister Eckhart came, “If the only prayer you ever say in your entire life is ‘thank you’, it will be enough.”  It was the best present I got that year for Christmas.  I treasure it to this day.
Today, I remember Sheri and celebrate the gift that she was in my life.  I hear the words of “You and Me Against The World” echo in my mind as I think about her:

“And, when one of us is gone, and one of us is left to carry on,
Then remembering will have to do.  Our memories alone will get us through.
Think about the days of me and you~you and me against the world....”

Yeah, my dear friend.  I’m thinking about you and them today — all those good times! And, I’m also remembering what Dr. Seuss once said: “Don’t cry because it’s over, smile because it happened.”
Well, I’m smiling today, Sheri! I think of you now always with a smile, and I’m playing a song or two that I know you’ll remember today.  I'm playing them in your memory.  I hope you can hear them in heaven.
Time it was and what a time it was we had, you and me, my friend...I love you, Sheri, still....always...forever...

http://youtu.be/r3ClXw9D8mI  Emily~Beth Nielsen Chapman
http://youtu.be/NVbPgBGv2to  Celebrate Me Home~Kenny Loggins {Sheri’s Song}

Below is a copy of The Friendship Cake recipe.  I wrote about it a couple of years ago in my blog entry about Sheri.  I’ve pasted that part of the entry here for you, so that you’ll know its significance:

...I remember praying the day of her funeral that she’d send me a sign to let me know she was okay. I’m open to them, signs that is, and I recognize them when they come. The week after she passed, a friend gave me a book with a card that said, "Thinking of you. I hope this book will bring a smile to your sad heart."
The book was called The Friendship Cake. The weekend after her death, I laid on my sofa, curled up under a blanket, with my cat, Rhiannon, sleeping on top of me and read that book. My husband was in our back bedroom where we kept the computer working on something having to do with his master's degree, when I finished that book.
Here is what he heard:
"Oh my God! Oh my God!"
It was said in exclaimed disbelief, giddy relief with happy tears and the laughter that comes when you realize that a prayer has been answered.  The tone was high-pitched like a woman who'd just opened the front door to find Publisher's Clearing House standing there with a GINORMOUS check.
"What’s wrong?" he asked, running to me to see what was going on, not certain if I was hurt or what....
I looked at him as tears poured from my eyes and said over and over. "Sheri is in the friendship cake!"
He looked at me as if I’d landed from another planet. "What?"
I remember putting my hand to my mouth and nose as a fresh wave of tears came, trying to explain it. I held up the book and showed him the recipe. "Sheri. Look," and I pointed to the recipe. It called for cream Sherry. "She’s okay. I asked for a sign to let me know she’s alright, and the recipe for Friendship Cake calls for Sherry.  She's okay!  She's okay!  She's okay!"
He sat down and took my hand.
"Of all the things I could read," I told him. "Of all the recipes I could receive, and THIS is the one that comes to me: Sherry [Sheri] is in the Friendship Cake."
"Wow," he said. "That’s something, isn’t it?"
"It’s amazing.  It's something else!"
"Do you feel better?"
I sniffed. "Some."
"That’s good," he replied. "Maybe you should make that cake."
I nodded. "I  think I will."
And, I did. I went and bought a bottle of cream Sherry, and I made the Friendship Cake for her birthday that year and took it into work to share. It was delicious.  I saved two slices of it for Tom and I to share that night over coffee.
Nine years later, I’m passing on the story and the recipe. I hope you’ll try it, and think of Sheri when you do.   Thoughts of Sheri are a good thing.
I celebrate her today as I will continue to do every year on this day until my time in this life comes to its end. I will listen to her song and take comfort, and I will eat her cake and feel satisfied and grateful for the years she was a part of my life, because she came and touched me in ways that I cannot adequately express, and her imprint went deep.  Endless kind of deep.
I don’t know what her role is in heaven? I don’t know if she’s an angel or a beautiful flower. I like to think she’s with my father and grandparents giving all her mother-love to my children. That thought makes me very happy. Whatever she’s doing, this much I know: she has added beauty and grace to her forever home...

The Friendship Cake~Sheri’s Cake

1 box Duncan Hines butter cake mix
1(3 ½ ounce) package instant vanilla pudding
½ cup oil
½ cup water
½ cup cream sherry
1 cup pecans, finely chopped
4 eggs

Boiled dressing:

3/4 cup sugar
6 tablespoons butter
3 tablespoons sherry wine
3 tablespoons water

Place cake ingredients in a mixing bowl - ½ cup of pecans; I use the other half to sprinkle around the bottom of the Bundt pan.

Mix on slow speed with electric mixer for 1 minute, then on medium speed for 3 minutes or until well-mixed.
Pour into a greased and floured tube pan (or Bundt pan).
Bake at 325 degrees for 1 hour (Test to see if done with a toothpick). Let cake cool then turn onto cake plate just to make certain the cake comes out completely.  Put the cake back into the Bundt pan,
Boil dressing ingredients for 2 to 3 minutes. I take a knife and cut a circle around the Bundt cake’s bottom to open it up, then pour the boiled dressing into it.
Let it cool completely in pan before turning it out onto a cake plate.

Serve with a cup of tea and make certain a friend is nearby to share it with. Enjoy

It's Still Fascination - A Luke and Laura Tribute

                                                     Luke and Laura~November 16, 1981

                                                     Genie and Tony~The Good Ole Days...

                                                      They are a match made in heaven....

"Deep within my heart, I always catch the scent of the Beloved. How can I help but follow that fragrance?" ~Rumi

"I love thee, I love but thee with a love that shall not die! Till the sun grows cold and the stars grow old..." ~Shakespeare

                                                  

                                  “To love and to be loved is to feel the sun from both sides." -David Viscott    

I hope you still feel small when you stand beside the ocean.

Whenever one door closes, I hope one more opens.

Promise me that you'll give faith a fighting chance.

And, when you get the chance to sit it out or dance,

I hope you dance...

“I can never forget Tony Geary and Genie Francis.  I take them wherever I go– always. They're in everything that I do.” 

—Jonathan Jackson

2007 Daytime Emmy Awards

Genie Francis takes home her first Emmy.

Super Soap Weekend Nov. 2006

Genie and Tony 2013    

"All kings, and all their favourites, All glory of honours, beauties, wits, The sun itself, which makes time, as they pass, Is elder by a year now than it was When thou and I first one another saw. All other things to their destruction draw, Only our love hath no decay; This no to-morrow hath, nor yesterday; Running it never runs from us away, But truly keeps his first, last, everlasting day." ~John Donne

                               "Nothing GREAT in this world has ever been accomplished without passion." ~Hebbel

                "They may forget what you said, but they will NEVER forget how you made them feel..."  -Carl. W. Beuchner

“There is something else at work here that is beyond me – that is Laura. She has a life of her own. There is a magic in her. The muse is in her. And I'm lucky to have her in my life.”  (May 14th, 1997) ~Genie Francis on her signature role of Laura Spencer

“I don't like to be Luke without Laura. She is his heart and his humanity. I don't want a major storyline without her.... I don't want another romance. I'd rather lay low in Genie's absence and protect the Spencer franchise. She's the only woman for Luke. They're not going to do any affairs--we're not going down any of those usual roads. He can flirt with everybody--and he does, shamelessly--but the man is not going to violate those vows. No way. The marriage will be on hold, and I'm OK with that as long as we've got the family. She's got part of the family--Lesley and Lesley Lu--in one place, and I've got Lucky here, so we'll never close that door. There's plenty of stuff to do. I can always support other storylines. I'm not that concerned about it. Hopefully, Genie will do what she needs to do for her family and still want to come back.”  —Anthony Geary/TV Guide website, May 14, 1997

http://youtu.be/aFcT6KZM9BY Lovers On the Run~Part 1 {Part 2 is missing on YouTube}

http://youtu.be/yQXcuTIVYRQ Lovers On the Run~Part 3

http://youtu.be/-UJMRurwL7w  Lovers On the Run~Part 4

http://youtu.be/ifrzBiKf1FU       Lovers On the Run~Part 5

http://youtu.be/Jtn39FpkIK8      Lovers On the Run~Part 6

http://youtu.be/nF68UxPh9ZE   Lovers On the Run~Part 7

http://youtu.be/RMUhhhszVc8  Lovers On the Run~Part 8

http://youtu.be/CztbwFGKblg    Luke and Laura’s Wedding November 16-17, 1981

http://youtu.be/UBcDsgnjyZE   Luke and Laura~The Greatest Love of All-Part 1

http://youtu.be/Z7BvHJnpFCw Luke and Laura~The Greatest Love of All-Part 2

http://youtu.be/qiw637BlG-Y   Luke and Laura~The Greatest Love of All-Part 3

http://youtu.be/egXkNCDF5ao Luke and Laura~The Greatest Love of All-Part 4

http://youtu.be/yvIVCUrXeuk  Luke and Laura~The Greatest Love of All-Part 5

http://youtu.be/8heu-E9iJbs      Luke and Laura~The Greatest Love of All-Part 6

http://youtu.be/6NUs043jPGA Luke and Laura~The Greatest Love of All-Part 7

http://youtu.be/L8tEdj_tzeA     Luke and Laura~1983 Reunion/Part 34

http://youtu.be/Pm_eCGl9450  Luke and Laura~1983 Reunion/Part 35

* If you’d like to watch the story of Luke and Laura from almost the beginning of the phenomenon’s origin, Sus’ YouTube channel is the place to go to relive the magic or see it for the first time.  Go to: http://www.youtube.com/user/sussezq?feature=watch to subscribe.  It’s an archival goldmine of the history of this great love story & SO worth a look.

A milestone happened on this day in 1981. I’ve written about it before, but it bears repeating.  Over a two day period in the fall of my Freshman year in college, November 16th and 17th 1981, Lucas Lorenzo Spencer married Laura Webber Baldwin.  It rivaled the British Royal Wedding that same year between Charles and Diana.  Thirty million people paused to watch the nuptials take place between Luke and Laura.  It remains the highest rated hour-long viewing in American serial daytime drama, i.e. soap opera, history.
I remember a few years ago, someone made a sarcastic reference as to why something of this caliber was still being discussed.  I believe the comment was, “For crying out loud, it’s just a soap opera!”
True. 
But, let me put this in a context that people can understand: my father spoke for YEARS about Ted Williams being the “greatest hitter who had ever lived—that professional baseball had ever seen!”    So, I went and looked up his stats.  Mr. Williams had a batting average of .344 — the highest of ALL time.  That was based on 521 home runs.  He had a .482 base percentage which is also the highest of ALL time.  That’s impressive.  
Likewise, if you were to mention the “Rumble in the Jungle”, I daresay every guy 50 years old and older would be able to tell you that was the 1974 historic boxing match between Muhammad Ali and George Foreman which took place in Zaire.  They could probably even tell you the exact date [October 30th] when it happened.  Ali defeated Foreman, winning the match by knockout before the end of the eighth round.  It has been called “arguably the greatest sporting event of the 20th century”.   My husband said, “Oh, ‘Rope a Dope’!”  when I asked him about it, which I learned was the tactic Ali used to tire Foreman out and enable him win the match.  Go look it up.  It’s an interesting read.
Now, my father would have told you that Ali’s “stunning” upset in ‘64 over Sonny Liston to win the Heavy Weight Championship when he was only 22 years old, [and still going by the name of Cassius Clay] was nothing to sneeze at either.
And, who can forget that gold medal, Olympic record performance set by Torvill and Dean in 1984, when they skated a perfect ice-dance to Ravel’s Bolero, garnering them straight 6's across the board.  Even I saw that back then, and still talk about it.
Likewise, you still hear people discussing Billy Buckner’s faux pas in the 10th inning – Game number 6 of the 1986 World Series between the New York Mets and The Boston Red Sox, when Buckner failed to catch the ball at first base, letting it glide between his legs and winning the game for the Mets, which ultimately took them to a seventh game. [The Mets also won that, along with the World Series that year.]
What’s your point? You may be asking.  My point is that these are people playing in sporting events that are watched for entertainment purposes, but they each had a moment – one special moment in time, that set them apart from any other moment in the history of that field, and people STILL talk about it decades later just like MY people, the Luke and Laura base, speak of and remember the wedding that occurred in November of ‘81.  It was legendary.  College classes all across the country were cancelled for that Thursday and Friday, because wise professors knew they were going to be sitting in an empty classroom otherwise.
I asked a few of my friends on the Luke and Laura Unrevised forum to give me their thoughts of that day or of Genie and Tony so you could have a broader context regarding the magnitude of this couple; this story and the pairing of Genie Francis and Tony Geary as the incomparable Luke and Laura Spencer.  Here are a few thoughts:

Lucille Russo of Illinois had this to say: “Luke and Laura showed me love, passion and trust. They taught me how two imperfect souls could come together, become each other’s home and create an enduring and abiding love.  I need more time for Genie.  I grew up with Genie.  Her Laura was an impulsive youth who grew into a woman of strength, character and compassion.  Genie’s talent is a gift from God.  With her emotional depth, she can reach right through the screen and into a viewer’s heart.  She is a light that viewers are more than willing to follow on any journey.  Like all of us, Genie the person is flawed.  But, she is not afraid to show those human qualities.  She is full of integrity, and she has a pure heart — a generous soul.  Together, Genie and Tony as Luke and Laura are the perfect combination of chaos and calm.  They have a chemistry that is pure harmony.  They share more emotion and knowledge through their eyes than with a thousand words. They are sheer perfection. We will not see the likes of them again.  I was lucky to be a part of the journey. ” 

Sue C. from Los Angeles, CA and one of the founders of Luke and Laura Unrevised sent along her thanks and well wishes to Genie and Tony for 32 glorious years:  “Happy Anniversary Luke and Laura! Toasting Tony and Genie for their mesmerizing portrayals of the most fascinating, romantic couple ever! You have given us countless moments of joy with your incredible acting!  It's no surprise that L&L's wedding set a record. Your magic continues to bring in new fans on the Internet!  Thank you both and congratulations on this momentous occasion!”

Becky Hagerman from Tennessee added: “Luke and Laura they have the greatest love story ever. I was too young to see the wedding live, and I became a fan of Luke and Laura when they returned in 93. Luke and Laura have a chemistry that's so strong its out of this world. Luke and Laura have a deep enduring love that transcended time . Genie Francis and Tony Geary are amazing and they've created the greatest love story ever. 
Luke and Laura are equal or in my mind greater than Rhett and Scarlett on Gone With the Wind or Romeo and Juliet. Luke and Laura make you believe in soul mates and the one true love of each others’ lives! Thank you Tony and Genie for the great gift of these legendary characters.”

Lynn from New York simply said regarding this pairing: “Let me not to the marriage of true talent admit impediments...” 

And, Dee Smellie of Texas summed up her feelings by touching on some of the frustration and disappointment that the long-time fans have felt regarding several of Tony’s interviews in recent years.  The comments concerned Luke Spencer’s own revisionist examination lately of the legacy, and his own departure from the franchise’s original blueprint of who and what these two people truly meant to one another as was told to us by the late, GREAT Gloria Monty and sold to us brilliantly by both Genie and Tony, as well as the recent, lackluster story that was given to the pair this last year.  She states:  “I read in an interview years ago, that Tony Geary said he could not play Luke Spencer without Genie Francis, and I could not agree with him more on that point!   Genie brings something out in Tony that is unparalleled – like Laura does for Luke.  I think Genie gives a special level of humanity to Tony’s acting that is otherwise missing.  She softens him much the way Laura softens Luke’s rough edges.  All I know is that the Luke Spencer that I have known and loved for the last three decades is not the one I’ve seen on the small screen for the last few years. I can' t watch the show anymore because I don't like the direction Luke has taken nor Tony’s seeming co-indictability in the rewriting of the history of this iconic couple.  People may not like me saying that, but he’s got it written into his contract that he can alter script content if it doesn’t jive with him, so whatever I hear Luke say, I know has Tony’s stamp on it.  I’ve wanted to “return to sender” a lot in recent years because the story contradicts the history that was aired and is known by the fans.  The legend is set.  You can’t re-write it at this stage in the game.  It’s a disservice to do that not just to the loyal fans who were there at the beginning of this story and KNOW how it goes, but also to Genie’s legacy as well.  It’s been a bitter pill they’ve tried to force down our throats, and many refuse to drink that Kool Aid.  But, I will always celebrate them and thank them for that original love story!  I hope we get the sunset.  I’ll always hope for that! I can’t thank ‘em enough for the years of pure joy and entertainment that they have given me! God, it was good!  In the glory days—it was good stuff.  There was nothing better!  NOTHING!  Like the rest of the old-timers, I’d like to taste it one more time.”

A couple of years ago, I blogged on the 30th anniversary about this “passion” that so many share.  Here’s what I wrote back then: “It was magic - pure magic. We crammed in so tightly that I’d venture to say sardines in a can had more wiggly room than we did, but it didn’t matter. The camaraderie was like being in a tight space rooting for the home team at a football game, and Luke and Laura’s wedding was the Super bowl of daytime television. I remember thinking with all the hoopla not just among the fans but with the media as well that this was going to be a memory - a long-lasting one. I wasn’t wrong about that! [Thirty years later and the fans still remember.] Elizabeth Taylor didn’t make an appearance for "just anybody" Dahling! She adored Luke and Laura like the rest of us. If it was good enough for Dame Elizabeth.....Yet, even without that added bonus of a big name dropping in as part of the festivities, it was truly something special simply in and of itself. It was the stuff of well....legends. Genie Francis and Tony Geary certainly sealed their iconic status with that wedding...they became TRUE legends that day, and their fans have never forgotten it. It’s like sports fans recalling with awed fascination when The Dodgers won the World Series; when Ali won the Heavyweight Championship or when The Saints won the Super bowl. The Wedding of Luke and Laura was our world series; heavyweight championship and super bowl Sunday all rolled up into one glorious thing. It was the Motherlode of fictional television events. I don’t know whether we’ll have the opportunity to see them again, in the sunset ending that we’ve all hoped and dreamed for them and ourselves, but we hold it in our minds - the happy place. And, for a moment, for one GREAT, shining moment, they were magic, and they shared it with the rest of us as well. 
I’ve attached a poem that I wrote a few years ago about Luke and Laura and attached a few of my favorite music videos along with it. Today, like then, I know the ardent fans will be celebrating again like it’s 1981....and why not? It was a heady time in our lives that few things compared to. It’s nice to brush off, at times, the cobwebs of certain memories and celebrate them again - those halcyon days. 
It’s also a perfect opportunity to once again say to Ms. Francis and Mr. Geary: Thank you for the ride! It was wild and crazy and fun. It was true roller coaster! You gave us the time of our lives in a story that was brilliant and bodacious and beautiful! There was nothing any better than what you created from the Wyndam’s dance on down to The Triple L, and that last, heartfelt, long-awaited gazebo dance. We are indebted and we are grateful for the legacy – The unrevised version of that great love affair.
Happy 30th Anniversary, Luke & Laura!  It was fascination then, and it's fascination now - ...still...always...Fascination...”

Yeah.  It’s still Fascination for us.  Michael Logan calls us a fierce bunch, the Luke and Laura fans, and we are.  Those of us who are LnL purists, who have been with this story from the get-go are a passionate, loyal, fierce group of viewers.  Genie has credited us with helping get her back on General Hospital a time or two.  
Contrary to thoughts that many of us are frozen in time, that’s the farthest thing from the truth!  We’ve journeyed with this couple through a summer on the run, a summer when they saved the world from being frozen because of the dastardly, evil and insane plans of Mikkos Cassidine, we braved the departure of Genie and our loss of Laura in 1982 just after the wedding we’d waited years for, only to rejoice in 1983 with that most glorious reunion, we shared in the brief visit of ‘84 and the announcement that the Spencer family was expanding, then we celebrated in ‘93 with the penultimate of returns for the Spencer clan.  We’ve weathered all the ups and downs of the ride over the course of that 20-year period, when children came, and problems ensued, when a divorce occurred and a nervous breakdown ultimately removed the love story from our grasp for the better part of a decade, with only a couple of small crumbs in between with those too short guest appearances by Genie.  NEVER in all of that time, have the characters been “frozen” in the past.  If that were true, we’d be clamoring for them to be pushing drinks and still running “The Campus Disco!”  It’s ludicrous to say that fans are stuck in the past, when all we’ve wanted was to move forward with this pair and continue to grow with them as we’ve done for decades.  What we’re frozen in is the truth of who these characters are and the reality of what this love means.  This is a soul mate love story.  That’s what it was created as and presented as.  The crux of that concept doesn’t change nor should it.  It is this point that fans take exception to with recent revisionist history as Dee pointed out above. 
Tony Geary is fully aware of this fact based on this comment he made to Soap Opera News on June 3, 1997 when HE said: “The audience is endlessly forgiving with those kinds of things. But if you violate character, that's different. That's like screwing with their friends–they won't stand for that.”
So, while we remember and celebrate this day today because it was an “out of the ballpark” moment for us, we will never stop hoping for the final chapter.  We will never stop believing that as both Genie and Tony said in 2007, there is more gold to be mined with this story.  We will never stop hoping that we will get an Executive Producer and Head Writer who will restore Luke and Laura to their glory, and who will peel back the complex layers that has been cast over them in this last decade and deal with the issues in story that need to be hashed out between the characters, repaired to match up with the true history, and restore them to their greatness.   Many of us have been with this story for 33 years.  Loyalty should be rewarded.  It’s been a crazy-good, wild ride for the most part.  We are fortunate to have been gifted with these two brilliant performers.    They don’t come around very often — and probably not again.  Chemistry.  It’s a rare yet delicious thing when you experience it, and Genie and Tony have one of the most unbelievable chemistries I’ve ever seen.  I want to look at them and see all that splendor once again.  Those of you who’ve witnessed it know what I’m talking about.  It’s an incredible sight to behold.  I want the story to end as it should in Luke’s own words: “Laura is MY wife: first! Last! Always!”  God, yes to that!  
Tony Geary summed it up best when he said SO eloquently as the character of Luke Spencer, “Darlin’, it’s like poetry with you!  We fit together! We’re meant to be together!  I’m sorry, but we’ll never be normal.  We can’t be normal because we’re extraordinary!  The truth of who we are and what we want has never changed.”

Here! Here! Luke!  Here! Here!  Glass raised.  
Thank you Genie and Tony for the magic, wonder, passion, splendor, love and un-bridled goodness you have given us these last 32 years!  God Almighty, it has been a wild and crazy-good ride that the two of you have taken us on.  I know I’ve said that once, but it’s true.  Forgive me for being greedy.  I want to go up one more time with the two of you....to the high place where only the two of you can take us.

As Luke would say, “Come on, Baby! Let’s take it to the limit...one more time...”

Quotes about Genie and Tony:

“The pleasant surprise for me is that when I look into Tony's eyes, he's still 100% present, sharing everything that's going on,” she says. “Acting with him is like a beautiful dance....I could act with him forever...” ~Genie Francis on Tony Geary

Constance Towers describes Genie Francis in one word: “Luminous.”

“My first screen kiss was Genie Francis, and then I forgot the others.” —Kin Shriner

“Genie Francis came up to me when it was all over and said, ‘I just want you to know I love you and you're special.  On my wedding day on General Hospital, everyone just went home and I felt lonely and really depressed and I don't want you to feel depressed.’  That caught me by surprise, but she was right.  At the end, everyone just went ‘OK, that's a wrap.’  You're left standing there with a bouquet in your hand thinking, ‘I get to drive home alone.’  It's like you were jilted at the altar.  What Genie did was really special.  I've never forgotten it.” ~Mary Beth Evans

“Working with Genie Francis is always a wonderful experience.  She is such a professional and makes herself so open to her fellow actors, it's easy to see why her scenes turn out so well.  I hope to be working with Genie in the future...” John J. York

In an AOL chat in 1996, Stephen Nichols was asked  if Stefan is really out for revenge or is he really in love with Laura.  Stephen said: “There's a good possibility that both of those things are true.”  Then, he said: “ I'm ecstatic to be working with Genie Francis. We have a fabulous chemistry–from the first moment we sat down to work together.”

“I love Genie. She has always been nothing but really cool to me, and I think it's because when she came over to [DOOL as Diana] when I was there, she was just an actor. She wasn’t Laura. So, we got to know each other on a really base level. Genie’s a sweetheart and an amazing actress. It’s a shame that she doesn’t have an Emmy in every room!” —Billy Warlock 

“She's a wonderful woman...We quickly learned to trust each other. There's no one I'd rather work with. Nothing is more important to two actors than trust. You can open up to them and hope the camera catches it. Even with script problems or whatever the problems are, it's really between two people. We can hang onto each other's glances and unspoken moments, saying more with our looks and silent language than with pages and pages of dialogue. With chemistry like that, you feed off each other. Genie is an extraordinary woman and actress...~...so much unspoken material and love between us. I adore her...~Genie is my acting soulmate.” —Tony Geary on Genie Francis

When asked what it was like to be a part of the Luke and Laura phenomenon, Rick Moses said this: “It is an amazing phenomenon and unless people were fans of GH, they probably wouldn’t understand it... — The phenomena I think was more of the fact that the two actors that had most to do with that-Genie of course giving her fair do as the female aspect she had it anchored down eight ways to Sunday! Between Tony and I are we understood the inferences of what the storyline was and Gloria gave us tremendous latitude to improvise and write our own dialogue which was, I think was, unprecedented and probably still is unprecedented.”

TGN asked Tyler Christopher how he felt about Tony Geary.  Here is what he said: “I am one of Tony’s biggest fans. You know, he is a big theater guy, he loves theater and I love theater. When you take the actor out of the soap and just look at actor for what he is, I think Tony is one of our finest, finest actors around. Regardless of soap or whatever it is I have a lot of respect for his work.”

 Erika Slezak was asked to define Tony Geary in one word: “Charming.”

“I'm a fine actor, I have abilities to communicate that are gifts. There is no other reason for me to walk this earth.” –Anthony Geary/People, November 16, 1981

I wrote this piece three years ago when a band of Genie Francis' supporters created a group called "Genie's Angels" to fight to get her back on General Hospital. It was a successful campaign and one that Genie has appreciatively acknowledged.  With the recent cancellation of two beloved soaps, and the looming threat of losing a genre that has been a part of my life since I was old enough to recall memories, [hm hm years ago] a friend recently asked if the LnL fans, that's Luke and Laura, for those of you not in the know, could say something nice about them.  I reached back into my files and decided to dust this off.  It's the nicest thing I can say about a couple, who, in my mind, will go down in history as one of the greatest romantic duos ever created.  I will never be able to thank Genie Francis & Tony Geary enough for the many years of entertainment and joy that they have brought me.  But, this is a start...  Sit back. Relax. Enjoy!

An Epical Ode to Luke and Laura & a Love Never Forgotten

©Jhill Perran

August 10, 2008

For me, it began as a slow, simmered "Rise",

while the story unfolded through those incredible eyes.

The anguish, the longing, the heat of their stares,

kept me fanning myself, on the edge of my chair.

There was intrigue and mystery and passion that oozed -

between two, star-crossed lovers who were torn and confused.

And, we saw in the glimpse of that one, awful night,

how one man’s human foible made him a strange kind of Knight.

Luke’s remorse and despair cut to the depths of our soul,

and redemption began from the trust that he stole.

Yes, we rooted for him, and we rooted for her.

It was them who we hoped had a committed re-birth.

Because they suffered and struggled over their formidable love.

It was hard-fought and hard-won - but it fit like a glove.

We could not get enough of their angst-filled, raw, passion,

They were genuinely flawed, yet it was poignantly rationed.

Their story, as told, showed a unique kind of grace.

Luke found his absolution from an unlikely place.

The woman who received his most brutal attack,

found forgiveness within, and she offered it back.

In that moment, we couldn’t have cared for them more,

It was them who we cheered for! It was them we adored!

And that glorious summer, when they went on the run,

when they brought down the mob, without the use of a gun.....

Who’d have thought that one story could bring such fun-filled, pure joy-

than the one that was told through the Left-Handed Boy?

It was short-lived! We knew when that cigar band came off,

We were in for LONG days, but we were in for the haul....

We bore witness to some of the most powerful scenes

of a love that was spoken through the lines in between....

The unuttered words and their subtle nuance,

clearly showed their desire - the profoundness of want.

How is it that two people could make love without touch?

It was all in their eyes, and their eyes said so much....

We felt tingles and shivers and were giddy each minute,

in the way that they told it and how well they did spin it....

And the heat was turned up during summer number two,

diamonds, a yacht - a tropical island to boot.

There in their glory was Luke and his gal,

and his good-looking, sexy, Australian pal.

Yowzah, we thought! Who could ask for much more?

There was a starlet, a "mad" guy and bad guys galore!

Port Charles in the deep freeze, in August no less....

What a yarn that was spun with that name "Ice Princess"...

In the fall, finally! Finally! we all got the dream!

Luke and Laura united with the exchange of a ring....

Like Camelot, the magic was gone much too quick,

Something precious was lost in that cold, foggy, thick...

Oh, I cried when our Laura disappeared in the night,

And, for me, that’s when GH lost its most luminous light.

Luke without Laura? - Too painful to watch it back then,

But I watched in ‘83 when our ship sailed again....

I was there holding on......and holding my breath,

when they finally connected in that earth-moving caress...

In his arms, Laura jumped as Luke screamed out to God,

it was a path only made for Angels and Heroes to trod.

It was splendor and wonder and grace personified,

when those two saw each other, when they embraced and they cried.

One knew in that moment, that fairy tales do come true,

If you believe in such things, and I assure you I do!

It was magic, I tell you - seeing that miracle unfold,

Watching Laura and Luke spinning more tales of pure gold.

True love, it endures. It survives. It abides...

You saw it so clearly when you looked in their eyes.

Nothing and no one would keep them a part!

You can sever one’s ties but you can’t sever their heart!

And therein and throughout, lies the crux of it all,

One heart shared by two lovers can’t be arbitrarily recalled...

No one could keep Laura on an isle with a cool, hunk of steel,

No one would stop Luke from protecting his Angel from evil.

Thus, commenced an odyssey of adventure and fun,

Luke and Laura were together - happily, back on the run...

And the following year, we got the Aztec Adventure,

With that most special scene: the telling of a new, baby Spencer.

Then, they left us to go live their lives off the screen,

but we knew they’d return.....can you say "Halloween, 93"...

Oh, Happy Days! Happy Days! Happy Days, don’t you know!

Luke and Laura were back with their Lucky in tow.

What followed can only be summed up like this:

It was JUST as it was when we last saw them kiss!

The magic still sparked, in the whirl of their dance.

Down the Triple L aisle, and the heat of their glance,

and the way that they touched and the way that they moved,

Made our hearts pitter-pat as we swayed with their groove.

We giggled over hijinx, watched sorrow amidst happier times.

The birth of sweet, Lulu and news of a son: Cassadine.

There were struggles, separations, and severe growing pains,

Yet, through all of those lessons, it reinforced their one, great strength:

Love. Always love. It was love from the start.

Every obstacle faced couldn’t tear them apart.

Yet, the unthinkable happened - papers signed for divorce,

No! No! No! No! No! No! That’s not REALLY their choice!

"Why DID we get divorced?" Tony asked Genie one day.

She replied with regret, "Cuz they wrote it that way!"

Then, we watched them discover what WE knew all along,

It was there with each other where they truly belonged.

They must marry again. It was destiny’s fate!

Luke and his Laura would forever be bound as soul mates.

But, the other shoe dropped, and it blew all apart,

not only our story but these two lover’s heart.

It was disbelief, horror and I gasped "Holy crud!"

When that candlestick hit Rick, then fell with a thud.

What happened in that attic isn’t really that clear,

all I know, was I knew it was my worst kind of fear....

Genie leaving? Laura crazy? Please say it ain’t so!

It felt helpless and hopeless - it was the worst kind of low!

The one thing I felt was how unbelievably wrong,

it was to hush the splendor of their incredible song.

We love her! He needs her! Don’t take her away!

Luke’s humanity. His Angel. PLEASE! God! Let her stay!

Yet, it wasn’t to be and we all watched just how,

These two said their goodbyes in that sad, attic-vow.

Those vows, oh those vows....they serve to remind,

We were gifted with not one but TWO one-of-a-kinds!

When Luke lovingly said "just my Sweetheart and me,"

There was a crumble within and I went weak in the knees.

She was courageous! Outrageous! He said that’s what she’d need,

To throw in with a guy from the wrong-side of Elm Street.

Then, he marveled again at her beauty and grace,

as he vowed his true love, as tears streamed down his face.

I remember that look, when she looked in his eyes,

and she cried in her truth: it’s there she felt safest inside.

Laura told him with knowing, with a sincere, true-love grit,

that he lived in her heart....right in the center of it.

Then, she broke from her hero as he fought not to weep,

he lost all that had mattered. Had Luke sown what he reaped?

Had the chickens come home to finally roost on past sins?

That’s the seed that took hold of his demons within.

In the past, she had seemingly taken each hit,

for the payback that had Luke Spencer’s name written on it.

There was Mikkos, Stavros, Nikolas too,

Laura suffered because Helena sought to punish her Luke.

And if that weren’t enough, we mustn’t forget,

What it cost her because Luke chose her over Jennifer Smith.

As I went into mourning because Laura was gone,

still, my heart dared to hope she would, one day, come home.

And the memories of past times, when their love was in bloom,

kept me buoyed from the despair, disappointment and gloom.

In my mind, "Fascination" memories of a pink-feathered lift,

made my heart smile again, as I cherished the gift,

That Gloria Monty gave us, when she paired up these two,

and made history with daytime’s most-beloved, dynamic duo!

Years past, as we waited and prayed for a fix,

And the magic returned in the fall of ‘06.

Hallelujah and glory and Hallelujah again!

Laura’s back! She’s awake! From ear to ear spanned my grin.

It was wonder and heartfelt - nothing better than this,

when the name "Luke" was called out from those once-quieted lips.

And, we watched sheer relief as Luke turned in pure awe,

once again, gold was mined in the love that we saw,

as he knelt and he looked and he cried "is it you?"

And her hands traced his face as a small-smile broke through.

"Yes, it’s me!" she declared. She’d been there all along,

They could take her away but not silence their song!

It’s too powerful, this love - this story - this pair.

That’s evident! It’s been 30 years. 30! Years! Still, we care!!!

There was a moment - a happening, at Beecher’s Corner’s when they...

went to dance....it was a most sacred, revered interplay.

When her arm went around him and she buried her head,

there was so much unspoken yet so much clearly said.

When Luke held her and stroked her with such sweet tenderness,

It was Tony who assured Genie in that gentle, utterance:

"I know, Baby!"

It was all staring at me, but the lines clearly blurred.

For a moment, I wasn’t certain who it was I had heard?

I can tell you I saw much resolved in that embrace,

It was one more REAL moment of their beauty and grace.

Time had stood still. It had waited for them.

Four years disappeared; wiped away - a faint dim.

The story played out - in the span of mere weeks,

all the love and the longing and the wanting for keeps...

It’s a love story that’s been so much a part of the lives,

not just for the fans but those who breathed it to life.

Once again, we strapped in, for a wonderful ride,

that ended too soon - in the blink of an eye.

What’s the matter with those who are running this show?

Can’t THEY see when they’re holding an ace-in–the-hole?

It boggles the mind that we lost Genie again,

Especially when Tony declared HE wanted his friend,

to return to her home where they had more gold to mine,

but it fell on deaf ears. All requests were denied.

It was too much to bear, being deprived of what’s golden,

How was it that ABC didn’t feel the least bit beholden -

To these actors and their fans who once saved this show from ruin,

from a cancellation stamp when rating-troubles were brewing?

Could they have truly forgotten who put GH on the map?

It was raised up by an unsuspecting Angel and her unlikely Chap!

We still loved them and missed them and wanted them back,

it was humanity and grace that our show sorely lacked.

Thus began an uprising: "Genie’s Angels" campaign,

We weren’t taking this lying! It was clearly insane!

When a show’s lost it’s heart, it’s goodness and luster,

Is change-in-direction really THAT hard to muster?

It appeared so, but we demanded OUR voices be heard,

They could solve so many problems if they’d just bring back our girl!

Clean up the mob-violence - write it again as sub-text,

Get rid of the dead weight! That’s the thing to do next!

Give us love, and joy and some stories with passion:

Luke and Laura, family values, how bout hospital interaction?

That’s what we’ve longed for, prayed for, yet when hope seemed MOST lost,

that she was not coming back, no matter how much the cost...

Something magical happened....in the kindliest knack,

Someone heard us! Praise be! "Mama" Laura is back...

It may be a brief moment with regard to this stint...

But within it, there’s hope that’s much more than a glint.

There’s a story - a sunset - that sets NOT solely on him!

Every road, we all know, leads us right back to them.

LukeandLaura: it’s one idea, one love and one tale.

For the die-hards, this love story is OUR Holy Grail!

We won’t rest til the ending matches up with the truth,

with the narration that was told in the days of our youth.

See, some of us believe fairy tales can come true.

For the fans, there’s one ending: it’s Laura with Luke....

Fan Videos Of Luke and Laura:

Below are some of my favorite videos of Luke and Laura set to music.  It just goes to show that fans can write this story beautifully without the dialogue.  The magic, however, is still there. All there—right there where it’s always been.  Genie and Tony have a chemistry that’s, bar none, like nobodies business, and the likes of which, we’ll probably never see again: Take a look for yourself:

http://youtu.be/yAouLmL3dMg  All I Know by StillErica24
http://youtu.be/SduZbULyu1I     The Promise by Hypnoticeclipse {I sent my friend, Hypno, this song several years ago & asked her to weave her magic because I wanted to use it in some fan-fiction I was writing, I was SO honored that she not only made it for me, but with what she came up with. It’s a beautiful thing, if I do say so myself, and I do! ;-) I call her the Renoir of music videos.}
http://youtu.be/u1_2BIcFuoc     Beautiful In My Eyes by Hypnoticeclipse
http://youtu.be/eZvIY4tiz34     When You Tell Me That You Love Me by Hypnoticeclipse
http://youtu.be/x__qABTlWI0  Is Forever Enough by Hypnoticeclipse
http://youtu.be/ZhejttCwo1g    Home by Hypnoticeclipse 
http://youtu.be/1LMbEH6_Yyc Angel by Hypnoticeclipse
*If  Hypno is Renoir, Lakb45 is da Vinci.  Her videos have always moved me like few others can:
http://youtu.be/XYQ5brxSVWI I Won’t Last a Day Without You by Lakb45
http://youtu.be/mcy4nzg5dk8    Every Time I Look At You by Lakb45
http://youtu.be/vhSqj5C2ny8     Laura’s Love: Luke’s Bride to Life~And I Love You So/Lakb45
http://youtu.be/AThYV3_Or04  The Story of My Life by Lakb45
http://youtu.be/SPFS0sFdveo     I Will Not Take My Love Away by Shazzer707
http://youtu.be/aIkiHtr3MWE    Life In Slow Motion by Smirksy
http://youtu.be/Eciglak5cNY     Can’t Help Falling In Love by Monkeygrove
http://youtu.be/gKYBP_jWNJk Think Of Me by Monkeygrove
http://youtu.be/LXmjBqnf610  Your Love Is a Song by Monkeygrove
http://youtu.be/H7DuBm7kJ3Y  Eternally Luke and Laura Video by Kieragirl
Among the masters, Sus would be my Michelangelo:
http://youtu.be/b_tUhmABjOg   Love Song by Sussezq
http://youtu.be/sGjFan1kr2g       Drowning by Sussezq
http://youtu.be/unwfMwE5wFg  The Special Two by Sussezq
http://youtu.be/JIBiNKIhkgM     Keep Breathing by Sussezq
http://youtu.be/LJepXyarO1U     You and I by Sussezq
http://youtu.be/bjrXrcvMR7s     Give Me a Reason by Sussezq
http://youtu.be/cHSUePVMb18 In Your Eyes by Sussezq
http://youtu.be/bvq9fBauiT8      It’s All Coming Back To Me Now by Luke Laura

"The roots of these characters are so deep and solid and understood by us. They were created by both Doug Marland and Gloria Monty, who really cared. They built an extraordinary foundation. I could play Luke till I drop dead--and probably will--and there will still be things to play based on that foundation, those roots. And that's really lovely-where Laura comes from is always present in Luke's mind."

~Tony Geary, TV Guide website, May 14, 1997

"This story couldn't have been done without Genie. Genie defines Laura by allowing an audience inside a complicated moment, and I could not allow an audience in without her love, Laura's love."

~Tony Geary, Daytime TV, March 1994, on the return of Luke and Laura

On the off-chance that we don't get the sunset, here's a video that I made a few years ago.  We're still holding on...

http://youtu.be/tfgpCSl9P5A  Auld Lang Syne Luke and Laura Style~Music by Kenny G