a day full of everything

"Be the change you want to see in the world."
                                                  Mahatma Gandhi



Today this auditorium was packed with more than 6,000 kids from middle school up through high school, all there to learn more and support the Free The Children foundation.
I feel blessed to have been one of those kids today.

There were so many inspiring speakers and  moving stories.
My eyes were reopened to the horrors hiding just out side our doors, and the world around us.
Terrible things happen every day, and we hear so little about them.
There are so many stories never told, and lives never lived.
This was a great reminder that it is our job, as citizens of the world, to do our part, and help where we can.

I had to leave We Day a bit early. I was kind of disappointed about that, but in the end, it was worth it.
I went to sing and play a few pieces on the the flute at the health and wellness group at my Gramma's Church.
That went very well.
Old people are always so sweet and supportive. They're not afraid to give compliments.

There was one older gentleman who was very inspiring to me.
He used to be an operatic tenor, and now he's a quiet old man with a dry sense of humor and a smile that makes you want to smile back.
He's had a stroke, and he doesn't sing very often anymore.
During his quick interview, he charmed the room.
After the program, when everyone was mulling around sipping their tea, he was persuaded to give us a quick little performance.
You could tell that this please him more than he would say.

His voice was so sweet and clear, but still only a shadow of what it had been.
Listening to his brief performance brought tears to my eyes.

You work towards something you're whole life, but in the end, it's life that takes it away from you.
Inside that quite old man, the flirty young man who loved to give impromptu performances to unsuspecting ladies who spoke whatever language he knew an opera in, is still there.

It's so easy to forget that everyone was young once, and deep inside, they still are.
Life is so short, but from where I am now, it seems to stretch on forever.