The Spirit of Story
Sunday, September 25, 2005

This morning, we woke up early because I had a gig! Tom McDermott, a talented soryteller/musician, invited me to tell stories at the 11:11 service at the United Methodist Church in downtown Fort Worth. The service was incredible. Tom led the ten piece band and they opened the service with a jazz number. From there, they played a variety of music including music by Harry Chapin.

Charles Gaby was the minister and his sermon was on the dark side of authority and where to find truth. After Charles' sermon, I went on. Tom asked me to tell a participatory story so I shared "How Anansi Shared Wisdom with the World." It fit in perfectly with Charles' talking points. The crowd loved the story and eagerly participated in the singing chorus that repeated throughout the story. It was a lot of fun. Afterwards, members of the congregation shared how much they appreciated the story. Someone told me I should consider doing it "professionally." LOL

After the service, Tom took us out to eat at Billy Miner's, a burger joint. Soleil and Eliana sat at a separate table with Matthew, Tom's 12-year-old son. They had a blast. I sat with Tom, his wife Linda, and two friends at another table.

Now, here we are at Barnes & Noble once again. The wireless Internet connection here is free! What luck!

We will be headed back for Houston in the next couple of days, after we get the "all clear" and are sure that there is gas along the travel route. Once again, we will probably travel in the middle of the night to avoid the heat and take advantage of the kids sleeping. We hope that it won't be the same lengthy 12-hour trek we had evacuating to Fort Worth.

Everyone has been so good to us. We have been so blessed. Yes, we are tired of the hasty moving and shuffling from one temporary home to another but there is so much to be thankful for. God has been blessing us throughout our trying journey. I have a network of friends and people all over the world who care about us and have been helping us. I can't believe everyone's generosity.

I hope you never tire of hearing "Thank You" because I can't help but say it all the time. And although the words may roll off my tongue often, believe that every time I say it, it is heartfelt and full of love. So, thank you to my friends, family, clients, colleagues, and fellow performers around the world who care so much. We love you for it.

All my love,
Dianne