Mission Accomplished!

      One week until Thanksgiving! I’m not sure how I’m going to handle this next week, but I’ll cross that bridge when I get there. The show last Friday was a huge success! There were a lot of generous people there. We got $870 from the door, and I heard at some point they stopped charging entry. It was cold and a little rainy, I get it, no one wants to stand outside waiting for people that might not come. So, I’m guessing we had at least 90 people! That’s huge! The booking agent said that was the most lucrative show they’ve had all year! Sorry for all the exclamation points, but it’s exciting! The raffle raised another $836! We couldn’t believe it. Some people just donated, and didn’t even want to join the raffle. Her Go Fund Me is now up to almost $6,000! All combined we raised almost $8,000! I can’t believe it. This was amazing. She went into the hospital yesterday to get the chemo started. She’ll be in the hospital all week, until she gets the bone marrow transplant next Wednesday. The day before Thanksgiving! I hope she’ll feel like eating. I don’t know how these things go. I just know I hope she tolerates the procedure well, and that she’ll have plenty of Thanksgivings to come. It’s hard to think about. She’s so young, and I’ve known her so long, it’s hard to believe this is all really happening. But it is. I can’t understand what her mom must be going through. I’m practically a wreck, and I’m on the outside. Her mom was at the show. She showed up early to help us decorate. She was stunned by what we put together. She claimed to be unsocial, and would never have been able to put it together. She was very grateful. She could not believe how many people were there. Us either. Of course there were also noticeable absences, but I tried not to think about that too much.

     Josie did show up! She looked drained. But she was still smiling. At least it looked like it. She was wearing a mask, so you couldn’t really see, but you could tell. Our daughter was there. They’ve been friends for a long time. For the most part Josie just posted up in the back with her mom, near the raffle baskets. I know she was grateful for everyone being there, but she was exhausted, having just had her ovaries removed the day prior. What a champ! Champion del Mundo! As her father would have said. He wasn’t Mexican, but he used to use that phrase a lot. I can hear him now. Whoa, I choked myself up a little. I’ve got to keep it together. Okay, I’m back. The Calvins did great! It was a good way to kick off the show. Although, it did seem that we were a bit aggressive for some of the people there. But, we’re like a firecracker, so it’s good to start with a bang! At least from what I’ve read. Josie came up front and “moshed” a little. There were a few people out there, taking it easy. I think it’s better that way. No one wants to get hurt at a fundraiser. There was one dude who looked like he was going to take it a little too serious, but he turned out to be a nice guy. He introduced himself to me later, he had seen us before. It was nice to see Josie out there having fun. Later on, I saw her in the back sleeping on her mom’s shoulder, it was touching. As old as our children get, we still tend to see them as “children.” And usually by the time they’re in their 20’s, they’ve stopped sleeping on our shoulders. It was touching. Her mom did not seem to mind. Josie made it until after the 2^nd band, which was a lot longer than the hour she thought she’d be able to stay.

     Something kind of cool happened. Most of the people got there in the beginning. And, the set times were getting pushed back more and more. The turnaround between bands was taking way too long. Maybe we should have just had three bands. I’ll remember that for next time. The Eruption was supposed to start at 11, but we didn’t start until after 11:30! But, getting back to the “cool” thing, people stayed! Not everyone, but quite a few. I was impressed. I really had the feeling the people wanted to see us. Plus, and this really filled me up, there was a late-night rally. Around 10, more people started showing up! I was overjoyed. It really felt like people were coming to see us, I felt so proud. The singer from the Hustlers showed up! She had been at another show, and came to see us! That’s dedication! We played for an hour. I asked the guys if they wanted to shorten it, but they said “no.” I was proud of them. We didn’t finish until about 12:40. A lot of people had left by then. It was a little strange watching the room dissipate while you’re playing. I know it was the time. But, it’s still weird. I was getting a little discouraged. Plus, something started going funky with my mic. It was all I could do to keep it together. I’ve seen the videos, we sounded great, so I have to just focus on the feeling I was having before we started. Before we started, I couldn’t believe how many people were still there, and that’s what I choose to remember. The booking agent had never heard us before. My wife said the lady actually sat down and watched our whole show. Afterwards she came up to me and said she really liked us and wants to book us again! Us specifically! Exactly what I hoped would happen! All around, it was a great event, and we did exactly what we wanted to achieve. That feels good!