Dreamin' Again

Coney Island Waffle Cone
Vanilla Ice Cream with caramel swirled through it
with bits of chocolaty dipped pieces of sugar waffle cone.
One of Edy’s Dreamery selections.
Yummy!

English Paper Piece Quilting

"Paper Piecing is an old method of quiltmaking which is still being used today. The cut paper piece is the finished size. You add the seam allowance as you cut the fabric, using the paper as a guide. The fabric is then basted to the paper pieces. After basting, the pieces are sewn together, edge-to-edge, with the paper inside to hold the accurate shape. Once the block is completed, the papers are removed. Complete step-by-step instructions come with each package of Paper Pieces."

"Paper Piecing allows you to carry a project with you at all times tucked in a corner of your purse or a small bag. You can piece in airplanes, in waiting rooms, at hospitals, at sporting events, and traveling in the car. If you have a few minutes, you can easily take it out and work on it. No need for a special place in your house where the sewing machine can be set up. You can have a basket of fabric and Paper Pieces by the sofa or your favorite chair."

"Paper Pieces are measured from point-to-point along an edge. They can be combined in an endless variety of ways, tape two pieces together to create new pieces, or split them to suit your own ideas. Use Paper Pieces for traditional quilt patterns or experiment and design your own."

"Paper Pieces are reusable. Quality paper stock allows you to reuse each piece a number of times. Once you no longer need to sew to a piece, just pull the basting threads and the papers come out the back side of the block or quilt top. Papers in appliqued pieces are removed by removing the basting stitches, cutting the foundation fabric away from the back, inside the sewing line, and pulling out the Paper Piece, leaving a single layer of fabric. Instructions are included with each package."
The description of Paper Piecing is reprinted with permission from: www.paperpieces.com
Paper Pieces
PO Box 68
Sycamore, IL 60178

800/337-1537
815/899-0925
FAX 815/899-2900
EMAIL paperpieces@tbc.net

I have just started this method of quilting and I absolutely love it. It is so easy, comes out very neat, and it goes so quickly! The best thing is, is that you can take it and do it anywhere. No more having to sit over the sew machine for hours on end.
The picture below shows the back of a piece of the 1 inch hexagons joined together.

Chocolate Cake with Whipped Cream Chocolate Frosting

This is a family favorite from the time I was a little girl. I think it is best when used with a dark chocolate cake mix.

Whipped Cream Chocolate Frosting

2 cups (1 pint) heavy whipping cream
1/3 cup sugar
3 tablespoons baking cocoa
1 teaspoon vanilla
(Optional: add just a touch of instant coffee for a slight mocha flavor, perhaps a 1/4 teaspoon)

Mix (do not whip) all ingredients in a bowl. Cover and set in your refrigerator to chill for at least 2 hours. Longer is OK. (Place your beaters in the freezer.) Then beat the mixture until it is so thick it holds its shape and will stand in peaks.
This makes enough frosting for the top, sides and between the split layers even if you use a generous hand.
Allow the cake to chill well through before serving.
Garnish with grated chocolate or chopped walnuts.

I Scream, You Scream, We all Scream, for Ice Cream

Luckily for my youngest he has a June birthday. Why lucky you ask? Because this mom, instead of sending in cupcakes or doughnuts for his birthday went to school every year from the time he was in kindergarten, and taught the kids how to make vanilla ice cream. Those kids loved Brian’s birthday! By 5th grade, his last for that school, we called the principal to come down to the classroom and presented him with a gift for the school of a brand new ice cream machine.

Oh, and we did do it just one more time, for the entire 6th grade!
(I also did it for quite a number of David's classes as well.)

Maggie

When we finally sold the condo and moved into a house we got the dog we had always promised the boys. Her official name is Maggie May Mc Neal, but but most often you can hear me calling....."Baby Girl". She's a Westie – A West Highland White Terrier - Extremely Smart – and has us well trained!
*When she was about 6 months old she used to try to "trade" her puppy Milkbone biscuits for Brian's toast after her morning walk. I'd give her the biscuit and she'd drop it by Brian's feet and then stare at the toast in his hand.

(She'd also give it back to us to break it into smaller pieces for her.)
*At about the same age she decided she wanted her dry kibble wet. She’d take her nose and flip the water to the other side of the bowl to wet her food and then wait until it was the consistency she wanted and then would go back to eat it. When she figured out that by bumping the bowl across the kitchen floor achieved better results to get the water to the other side she did that. I put a stop to that quickly as I'd have a trail of water going across my floor.
*She "talks" - "coughs" or "hacks" in that order - to get our attention when she needs to go out.
*She barks at car-carriers when they go by - she knows which they - and has been doing this since she was a puppy and we haven't a clue as to why.
*She naps on our bed if I haven't made it yet. Once I make it she's not interested and moves to Brian's bed.
*She can jump on our bed, but if I'm already in it at night she makes me lift her up onto it.
* Also, if I feed her bits from the table and then show her "empty hands" and say "All gone - no more" - she'll try someone else or leave. She doesn't "beg" - just sits there and looks at you and takes food very gently.
*If you ask her to find her ball she'll usually track it down and then wants to play "fetch". If you're at the bottom of the stairs she push the ball with her nose to drop it down the stairs. She sometimes even "throws" it to you.
*If you don't give her a treat after she's been out - she'll follow you around to you do.
*At dinnertime if you haven't put her food in her bowl she'll "talk" or bark at you to let you know she want's to be fed.

*About 2 years ago when we had so much snow, Paul made trails for her in the backyard with the snowblower. Being that it was so deep she stayed in the trails and we didn't have to walk her. As the snow melted she continued to stay in the backyard. Then one day Paul thought Brian had let her in, and Brian thought Paul had let her in, and when they realized what had happened, Brian ran to the front door put on his shoes, and was about to head out, and there she was sitting on the front porch looking at the door.
*When Paul comes home she runs to him at the top of the stairs and "talks" to him and gives him “kisses”.
What a character!
That's my (hairy little) girl!

Oh, and her adorable sweater was made by my childhood friend, Carol. Now that’s a friend ...taking time to knit a sweater for your dog!

Copyright © 2005 Deborah Sharp Loeb

An Old Don and a New Favorite

Don Pepino is a sauce I’ve been using for years. I add a little olive oil to the saucepan and sauté minced or sliced garlic, then the sauce, and then let it simmer slowly (covered) adding some fresh chopped basil leaves near the end. At times I’ll add red wine or mushrooms, or a can of crushed tomatoes. It’s a good base that you can “jazz-up” to your liking. I like its fresh taste. It’s not over spiced like some of those sauces you buy in a jar. They also make a good pizza sauce which is probably what a lot of pizzerias use as the warehouse stores sell huge cans of it. You can get a small one in the grocery store. It's what I use for my homemade pizza. (For tips on making homemade pizza see 4/15/05 post.)

The little garlic slicer/shredder was purchased in Walmart for $3 and change. It works great! You could also use it for radishes, baby zucchini, and such.

A-Pass-Along (A Small Gesture of Thanks)

"Great opportunities to help others seldom come, but small ones surround us every day." -Sally Koch

Last Saturday, we were beginning to make plans for this upcoming 3 day weekend. I mentioned to my family how my parents used to call this holiday 'Decoration Day'. I shared with them that when I was a kid growing up in Northern New York, near Canada, my mom and dad would gather us all up, throw bags of dirt in the trunk of the car, including a trowel, a small utility bucket, and a flat of geraniums and off we'd go to the various cemeteries to visit our dead relatives. We had to decorate their graves for Decoration Day.

As I sat out on my errands on Saturday afternoon, I smiled to myself as I saw a local Veteran selling paper poppies at a major intersection in my town. I knew summer was on its way. As I gave this very hearty, yet elderly gentleman a few dollars for a poppy, I noticed his face was quite flushed under his Veteran's hat. I commented that I wish I had a bottle of water for him besides the money. He responded how he could sure use one. I smiled and drove away as the light turned green.

One of the joys of my town is a drive up Welsh Farms; you don't get out of the car to purchase your items. You inform the clerk what you'd like, they tell you the amount, you give them the cash (they even make change!) and you get your items. I pulled in and got two bottles of water, one for him and one for me (I'm trying to drink more water and be a little healthier!) I turned my car around, drove back through the very congested intersection to give this man a bottle of water. To my surprise, he wasn't there! I turned around on my street and as I was driving back to the intersection, I saw him in the Friendly's restaurant parking lot talking to another Vet. I pulled into the lot, got out and ran over and gave him his bottle water. He thanked me and called me his angel. I told him he was most welcomed and I thanked him for what he did to help our Vets and for keeping our country safe. As I drove out of the lot, he was back at the intersection, collecting money for his fellow Veterans. As I drove by him, he waved and blew me kisses. They were the sweetest kisses I got that afternoon!

I have found God to be disguised in a variety of ways in my life. I just have to be open to the fact that he is everywhere and shows himself in the smallest of ways. Last Saturday, he was a Vet.

-by Diane Waugh Oliver Copyright © 2005

A-Pass-Along (The Real Meaning of Memorial Day)

This "Pass-Along" is from Diane Waugh Oliver

The Real Meaning of Memorial Day - Editorial
Source: Bay Weekly Online Vol. 10, No. 21 May 23-29, 2002

Decoration Day was the name our grandparents called May 30, and the friendliness of carrying garden peonies and roses to our relatives down the road took the terror out of cemeteries. The weather was usually grand, the flowers sweet, and the children got to know their elders not only by the stories told coming and going but also by direct graveside address. We furthered the acquaintance by tiptoeing among the mounds, careful not to offend the dead by tromping on their bones, as we made up the rest of stories suggested by name, date and inscription.

But that was long ago. Decoration Day has since become Memorial Day, and was then moved from May 30 to the more convenient last Monday in May. Now it stands as little more than the symbolic gateway to summer.

The year behind us makes a good case for reviving the old custom of honoring our dead heroes.

Originally, of course, Decoration Day was devoted to the young men who died in Americas many wars. The dates on their tombstones were poignantly short, and even if we didn't know them and were too young to know those wars ourselves, we shed tears for the brevity of those young men's live.

A David Moment - Oz

A few of summers ago I took David to Plays-in-the-Park, an open air theater, to see The Wizard of Oz. I wasn't even sure we were going to make it that evening as he had had 4 seizures during the day. After an afternoon nap he seemed better, but he had another 2 seizures on the way there. Maybe I should have given up and just headed back home, but he was fine for the whole show. It was a very good production and David really enjoyed it. Afterwards we went around back so he could meet some of the actors because his Uncle John knew the cast members. My brother introduced him to Dorothy (whom he could recognize right away as she still had her braided pigtails), the Evil Witch (his former neighbor and drama professor from Kean University), the Good Witch and the Wizard.
I guess he was really "taken" by Dorothy because just as I started to push his wheelchair to leave, he grabbed the wheels and headed back over to Dorothy, took her hand and kissed the back of it! She was so taken by surprise she said, "Oh, what a gentleman!"
David just beamed!

Copyright © 2005 Deborah Sharp Loeb

A-Pass-Along (Advanced Medical Directives)

The following is an email I received from Sally Edwards, a Hospice Chaplain. It had such good information I requestion her permission to post it in full.

Hi Debbie,
I hope you will find an opportunity to say more about
Advanced Medical Directives. You mention "DNR/Living Will". These are two separate documents. Hospitals, at least in NJ & PA where I have worked, are required to ask whether a patient has signed a "Do Not Resuscitate" order.

A "Living Will" allows an individual to state what kind of
treatments s/he does and does not want in the event that
s/he becomes unable to communicate.
It is important to hand- carry a Living Will every time
one enters a hospital for treatment. This document does have
limitations, however; it cannot cover all combinations of
symptoms, and doctors would rather err on the side of
prolonging life, even when doing so requires using
"extraordinary measures".

By far the most important document we all need is a Durable
Power of Attorney for Health Care (or, Proxy Directive, or Medical Power of Attorney). This document appoints someone, in fact, a sequence of someones as health care representative to make decisions about medical care in the event that we cannot speak for ourselves. It includes the information in the Living Will and only becomes effective when we cannot speak for ourselves. Writing a Durable Power of Attorney for Health Care appoints someone with whom the doctors can dialogue and goes a long way to reducing friction among family members.
We naturally shrink from writing a DNR, whether for ourselves or for a loved-one. It can seem like giving up: giving up expectations that medical intervention will be effective, and giving up hope for continuing the life that God has given. In fact, resuscitation is a brutal process; ask a nurse who has been part of one, and there are circumstances in which it is not appropriate.
I prefer to use the acronym, "AND" for Allow Natural Death,
which can be a grace-filled gift to the seriously ill patient.

Which brings me to hospice care. Hospice care is palliative care, that is, it is focused on alleviation of symptoms rather than on using aggressive treatment to seek cure. It is too bad that some patients, and some doctors, reject hospice care because they see it a admission of failure or, defeat.
But that is a topic for another day.

My goal here is to urge everyone to write a Durable Power of Attorney for Health Care. Forms are available free from State Medical Societies, and from hospice organizations.

Sally Edwards, hospice chaplain
Email: Sedwards63@aol.com

Spring into Action!

If you’re in the need for new spring form pans I thought these
sturdy, well made 8, 9, and 10 inch ones made by Wilton and
sold for the set of 3 for $8.88 at Wal-Mart were a good buy.
I’ve included a recipe so you can take them for a test run!

Praline Cheesecake

Crust –

1 cup of Graham Cracker Crumbs

½ cup ground fine pecans

6 Tablespoons melted unsalted butter

½ cup brown sugar*

Filling –

1 ½ pounds softened cream cheese

1 cup of brown sugar*

2 Tablespoons of flour

3 large eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract (or Maple Extract)

½ cup chopped pecans

Bake: 350’ for 50 minutes in the 9 inch spring form pan
* I use Domino Brownulated Brown Sugar.
For a Walnut Cheesecake substitute walnuts and
Use: ½ tsp. vanilla and ½ tsp. Wagner’s Black Walnut extract
For Almond Cheesecake I'd use sliced almonds for the cheesecake part
and 1/2 vanilla and 1/2 almond extract

The Prom

It’s that time of the year. Back when I was in High School you had to have a date to go to the Prom. You’d see people start to pair up at the end of the year just so they’d have a one. Now you can actually go stag to the prom. I think that’s great. I think it should be that way. The last big party of the year to enjoy with your friends. It should be acceptable for all to go, with date or dateless.
My younger son just went stag to the prom with a bunch of friends that all had dates. He had a date that cancelled out on him, fortunately, she called before tickets were purchased, but he decided to go anyway. Good for him and he had a good time with his friends.
I was processing some pre-prom photos at one of those automatic machines in the pharmacy and there was a girl waiting to use the machine. It turned out she was waiting to process her prom pictures. She mentioned she had just broken up with her boyfriend that she had gone with to the prom and then added that she wished she had gone alone.
So, so much for having a date for the prom.

Copyright © 2005 Deborah Sharp Loeb

Emergency Medical Information Sheet

Here's something you can to do for each member of your family and for your elderly parents, or for that matter anyone whose care you would become responsible for in time of an emergency. You can create a Emergency Medical Information Sheet. When my father was in and out of the hospital this made things so much easier. Keep this in a labeled envelope on the refrigerator.
Do this on your computer and it will be easy to update. Post the date on it, and the envelope, and check it over every six months. Be sure to include the following:

Name, address, phone number of the person (place of work and numbers)

Persons to contact in case of emergency and their relationship to the person

Date of Birth - Height, Weight, Medical History - Any Current Medical Conditions

Current Medications - Name, strength, dosage

Primary Care Doctor and any specialty Doctors with their name, addresses, phone numbers and Fax numbers

Photocopies of Medical Insurance Cards - front and back, and Driver's license

Any advanced medical directives - DNR/Living Will

Notary letter of other persons other than yourself that can make medical decisions in your absence say for instance for your children

Preferred hospital if there is more than one in your area

If there is a pet that would need to be cared for any information that is needed about the pet, including the Vet, and who would care for it

CBS News - Sunday Morning

Did you know that for some 20 years that while you may be at church there is a wonderful program on CBS called CBS News Sunday Morning? (9-10:30am or check your local listings) It is an eclectic mix of news, stories on music and the arts, people, Americana, and things you won't see on other programs. It always ends with a beautiful scene from nature. So set your TiVo, Replay TV or VCR and give it a try.

A-Pass-Along ( Angels in Action)

"The maker of Angel Soft® toilet paper believes that kids who have dedicated themselves to acts of kindness should be rewarded for their efforts. That's why they created the Angel Soft® Angels in Action® Program. Children and teens, ages 8-18, are recognized and rewarded for exemplary acts of service that benefit their community, a charity or cause."
To learn more about this program go to:

http://www.angelsoft.com/angelsinaction/

For famlies there is the Angel Soft® Million Family Service Pledge™ Sweepstakes. What you do is pledge to volunteer one hour of your time each month for a year for the good of your community. When you fill out the form you'll be automatically entered for your chance to WIN $5,000 from the maker of Angel Soft toilet paper. You can spend it, share it, or donate it. The winner will also have $5,000 contributed to a nonprofit charity or service organization of their choice by the makers of Angel Soft.
To enter go to:

http://www.angelsoft.com/angelsinaction/familypledgesweeps.asp

A Lesson in Giving

When my youngest son was in first grade I did a presentation of the Shel Silverstein book, The Giving Tree. So that the students could better see the progression of the story I photocopied all the pages, and as I read a page, I put it up on the blackboard in order. When I was done reading we talked about the story, how we could give to others, and what one thing they could do to help someone. They then drew a picture of it and as they completed it they brought it up to the teacher and myself and we helped them to write a sentence describing what their picture showed. They took the pictures home and I donated the book to the class library.

Copyright © 2005 Deborah Sharp Loeb

Good Crumbs!

I used a tablespoon or two of this Bookbinder’s Bread Crumbs Seasoned with Lemon mixed with some melted butter and tossed it with some freshly steamed asparagus. It was a big hit. I would think it would complement Brussels sprouts as well.
(It got David to eat asparagus!)

Eva Cassidy

Some years ago I caught a report on Nightline about a musical artist named Eva Cassidy. Her voice was like nothing I had ever heard before. I was immediately hooked.
Her style – a little folk, a little blues, and a little jazz. Sadly she is no longer with us but there are her recordings. To learn more about her you can read a bio at: http://www.oaksite.co.uk/bioblue.html

To hear her music go to: www.amazon.com

Some of my favorites from various CD’s:
Songbird – Songbird, Fields of Gold, Over the Rainbow
Live at Blues Alley – People Get Ready, What a Wonderful World
Time After Time – Time After Time, At Last, I Wandered By a Brookside
American Tune – The Water is Wide, True Colors, You Take My Breath Away

Something else you might find of interest is at this website: http://www.evacassidy.org/eva/intervie.shtml
It gives accounts of how some of the songs on her CD's came to be recorded.

A-Pass-Along (Extra Hands for ALS)

"Extra Hands for ALS is a national voluntary service movement devoted to the fight against ALS, also called Lou Gehrig's disease. Launched in 2002, Extra Hands is expanding nationally and now operates in many cities in the United States." For more information go to: www.extrahands.org

This could be a good service program for young people from a church, scout, or youth organization.
As it says at the site: “Students who volunteer to assist families battling ALS become adults better capable of addressing challenges in their own lives and communities.” Also “By helping ALS families with household chores, students provide a valuable service in their communities, and they learn about courage and determination from people facing one of life's most daunting challenges.”

Extra Hands For ALS
10420 Old Olive Street Road, Suite 105
St. Louis, MO 63141
(314) 997-2311

Super Nanny 911

Super Nanny and Nanny 911 Give me a break. What ever happened to common sense and having a backbone?
Many years ago when my youngest, Brian, was 3 or 4 years old I picked him up from nursery school and we went to the local Pizza Hut for lunch. We had placed our order with the waitress and as we were waiting for our food, two boys that were maybe a year or so older than him were running around the salad bar, out of sight of their moms. As if that wasn’t enough, one of them took the large serving spoon and took a mouthful of something and put the spoon back! Brian’s eyes said it all. He looked at them like they were crazy. I said to him, “What would happen if you acted like that?”
He said, “We’d leave.” (I thought to myself, you bet you’re a$$ we’d leave.) I said, “Yup, that’s what we’d do.” I then went over to the manager to tell him what had transpired. He removed the tray of food and spoke to the moms. I would have been mortified. It didn’t seem to really bother them. Shame on them. They lost their teachable moment, but then I don’t think they’d known one if they saw it.

Another time, maybe one or both of the boys were with me, anyway we were at the small local food market. We had only gone down a couple of aisles and I only had a few items when one of them started to act up. (They weren’t ones to have temper tantrums.) I don’t remember what it was about but they weren’t calming down. I steered my basket to the checkout by the door, told the checkout girl, I’m sorry but I have to leave, and we were out of there. I think my silence all the way home said it all. You only have to do that once. Yeah, I didn’t get the shopping done, and I scrounged something together for dinner, but you can bet it never happened again.

When Brian was in nursery school he’d often have play dates with classmates. I always emphasized when he went to someone’s house that it was important that he be well behaved and thank the mom for having him over. When I would pick him up, invariably, the mom would tell me it was so nice to have Brian over and that he was welcomed to come back anytime. An incident that really drove the point home was when Brain had a classmate come over to our house. As the kid was jumping up and down on the sofa, I calmly, yet firmly said to him, “In this house we don’t jump on sofas.” He “got” it.

The point to all this is, is….kids will live up to (or down to) your expectations of them. Be firm. Stick to your guns. If you do this in the beginning, it will be much easier in the end.
(...and no, my boys weren't perfect when they were little, but for the most part they were well-behaved because they knew what was expected of them in any given situation. Also, just because David is Special Needs that is not an excuse for him to misbehave.)

Copyright © 2005 Deborah Sharp Loeb

A Pass-Along (Happiness Bank Account)

(The following is one of those stories that is circulating the Internet, whereas I don't want to start doing that on a regular basis, as I know you all get enough of those, I thought this was a nice one to pass it on.) Thanks Anne

A 92-year-old, petite, well-poised and proud lady, who is fully dressed each morning by eight o'clock, with her hair fashionably, coifed and makeup perfectly applied, even though she is legally blind, moved to a nursing home today. Her husband of 70 years recently passed away, making the move necessary.
After many hours of waiting patiently in the lobby of the nursing home, she smiled sweetly when told her room was ready. As she maneuvered her walker to the elevator, I provided a visual description of her tiny room, including the eyelet sheets that had been hung on her window.
"I love it," she stated with the enthusiasm of an eight-year-old having just been presented with a new puppy.
"Mrs. Jones, you haven't seen the room just wait."
"That doesn't have anything to do with it," she replied.
"Happiness is something you decide on ahead of time. Whether I like my room or not doesn't depend on how the furniture is arranged... it's how I arrange my mind. I already decided to love it. It's a decision I make every morning when I wake up. I have a choice; I can spend the day in bed recounting the difficulty I have with the parts of my body that no longer work, or get out of bed and be thankful for the ones that do. Each day is a gift, and as long as my eyes open I'll focus on the new day and all the happy memories I've stored away … just for this time in my life."

Old age is like a bank account: you withdraw from what you've put in.
So, my advice to you would be to deposit a lot of happiness in the bank account of memories.
Thank you for your part in filling my memory bank. I am still depositing.

Remember the five simple rules to be happy:

1. Free your heart from hatred.
2. Free your mind from worries.
3. Live simply.
4. Give more.
5. Expect less.

It’s All Greek to Me!

Cavender’s Greek Seasoning is good on all kinds of meats but I especially like to use it on flank and skirt steak with Adolph’s Natural Tenderized before grilling. You may like it on some vegetables as well.

David and Donny - 4 (Third Concert)

Today you’re in for another David and Donny story. So if this isn’t your cup of tea bail out now. For the rest, buckle-up, it’s going to be a long ride.
To begin with the day before the concert I get in the mail this sample card from Guideposts Magazine. On the outside is a cartoon drawing and it says “Joseph and his goat of many colors” inside it says, “Life's never gray when you're around!” David just has to give this card to Donny. Too perfect or what? He signs it, “Davie”. It took him awhile because handwriting is very hard for him.
The next day I have in mind this thing I just have to get for Donny, so it’s off to the mall for the two of us. I spot the item in the first store I go into but I think I’ll just try another store just in case I see something I like better. Then I run into our friend Eric, who just happens to have an embroidery business there in the mall, and I tell him what I’m up to and would he be able to embroider on the item I have in mind? He says he’ll give it a shot, as he had never done it on this item before. Success! It worked.
On to the concert. We were in the front row of regular seats, on the aisle, David first seat of course, me, and then my brother. There were two rows of chairs in front of us but David had a perfect view of the stage. Right off in the beginning Donny looked right at David, smiled, David waved to him and he waved back. When he started to sing Any Dream Will Do from “Joseph” David was literally on the edge of his seat and remained so from that point on. David thinks he sang that song just for him especially since he was wearing his “Joseph” shirt from that very theater where he’s seen the production for the past 10 years. Meanwhile, David is pointing to his gift bag for Donny and wanting to give it to him. With urging from the audience, he sings another, Close Every Door. Right after this I think David has his opportunity and I tell him to go up to the stage but he isn’t fast enough and by the time he reaches the stage Donny's turned and moved farther away. A security guard goes up to him and I rush over. I don’t know if it was the whole audience but I know that from everyone in our area I heard this collective sigh. Then everyone asks me what did he say to you. He said that he thought that sometime during the show Donny was going to let people come up and to wait until then.
There was an intermission and Donny’s assistant, Tina, was up on the stage and people were giving her things for Donny. So Johnny and I took David up to the stage and David handed her the bag. I showed her what was inside and she said that he’d remember that! She said that this was his 5th concert in a row and that he was very tired that’s why he wasn’t opening the show up to that. I could understand, besides this was a, let’s just say, very exuberant audience, to say the least! Donny’s fans really love him and he is most gracious at letting them take photos, shake hands and such.
Some point later in the concert David is able to get to the stage and he reaches up to Donny. Donny goes to shake his hand and David kisses the back of his hand! Donny smiles and pats him on the head. I swear I heard a collective sigh. I see everyone in the area where we our seated is beaming. I gave them the “thumbs-up”. I took a picture but I only got it of Donny as he was leaning into David. It all just happened so quickly. There were some other fans there that were taking pictures by me and we exchanged info so there could be a chance I get it.
Near the end of the show, the same security guard from before motioned to my brother to bring David right up to the stage, where he remained until the end.
After the concert, Donny’s musical director, Paul Peterson, who plays a lot of instruments, was right by us. I asked David if he wanted his picture with him as he was taking pictures with others. David went over to him and gave him one of his very hard David hugs and gave him a big kiss on the neck! Oh…David! He was so pleased with himself, I saw he was teary-eyed and this kind gentleman gave him one of his guitar picks. Which I know David will cherish.
On the way out I wanted to buy him a shirt but he wanted a button but they didn’t have any. He picked out a picture and he also got a souvenir booklet.
The first thing he did when he got home was play his new Donny CD. Sweet dreams David. He slept very late.
(Oh, by the way, the item in the bag….a pair of Purple Socks with “DONNY” stitched on each one and a “Princess Chain” * with story, for his wife.)

Now I’m going to let you in on a little secret that only parents and those that work with those that have Special Needs know.
The “lows” can be very low, but the "highs", you soar!
Thank you Donny for making David soar!

Copyright © 2005 Deborah Sharp Loeb
* For "Princess Chains" see the last page of the Bookstore
Pictured above - Donny as he is going to shake David's hand
Pictured below - David standing by the stage