Yes, You Make Me Proud...

What started as an absolutely horrible and rotten day has ended beautifully. Tonight, my beautiful little pre-schooler sang as part of her class at an end-of-the-year potluck, and I got the chance to see my amazing little one shine in public. She's always been my shining star, but tonight, her little star shone for the whole world to see. She brings me so much joy and so much pride, and there are absolutely not the words to tell you how much I love her and how much she has changed and impacted my heart and my life...for the better. For the much better.

It's no secret to those of you who read my blog and who know me personally that music is a huge, huge part of my heart. I've been a singer, however informally and unprofessionally, ever since I could breathe. I can't ever remember a time where music didn't impact me...define me...surround me...comfort me. That love of music has seen me through incredibly difficult times and the songs that have served as the soundtrack of my memories forever resonate inside me, reminding me of those times and whatever emotions I was experiencing at those particular moments of long ago. Maybe it's because I love music so much (and curse myself for never having given myself a chance to explore it professionally) that has led me to love "American Idol" so much. In all honesty, several seasons of the show went by before I even cared. But I fell head over heels for Bo Bice last year and, well, the bug had bitten. I followed this season's auditions, performances, and contestants from the start until tonight's amazing finish, and from the start, the Soul Patrolman Taylor Hicks held my heart. And tonight, he won. He won. He won! A new friend (and fellow Kansas Soul Patrolwoman) and I were talking last night in between frantic phone votes and I had a thought. Today, we are a public so incredibly thirsty for joy. For laughter. For happiness. For a departure, however momentary, from the sadness and hurt that so plague our world. There's not a day that goes by when the news isn't filled with the anger and violence of the world...where warring factions and cruel people harm the innocent and rob the world of joy and hope. Along from seemingly nowhere came a gray-haired spirit full of love and joy whose sole hope was to make people happy...to spread a little love and joy through his God-given gift of music. And that's exactly what he has done. Taylor Hicks, you have made me so proud. Proud to be your fan. Proud to be a fellow music lover and singer. Proud to believe in hope and love. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for sharing the gifts of your love, joy, and soul with us.

I'm off to chat with my fellow Soul Patrollers at MySpace. Have a great night, everyone.