And After

As the evening died down, we left our instruments on stage and took off for the night... Heading down I-75 and oh, finally to the exit that takes us home, and to our Kroger (milk! toilet paper! cereal!) -- and down our driveway. We were greeted by our kind neighbor who had gathered our mail, and who informed us that during the crazy windstorm that wailed its way through the Midwest last week, our neighborhood was without power for 3-4 days.

Good to know... We walked into our backdoor to a strange-ish smell and to the tasks of wiping up the stained "something-melted-and-dripped-here" spots on the floor, and of course emptying our fridge and freezer. Hmm, we're happy to have great neighbors; we'd have totally eaten some of that.

We fell into bed in two funny lumps of exhaustion--

We woke this morning and prepared to head back to The Carnegie. Now this is a beautiful gift:
Once we booked the show with Dar, I realized that we'd be in town for Covington's Day of Peace: an event presented by the Women's Crisis Center of Northern Kentucky, (with whom I've had the honor of doing volunteer training/etc), as well as by the Family Nurturing Center).

The Day of Peace is an event organized each year as part of a national movement each October, whose aim is to educate the public about domestic violence, to encourage survivors and their families, and to keep women and girls safe from violence.

When I realized we'd be in town, I emailed my volunteer coordinator to say we'd be there. And it just happened that this year's event coordinator had been unable to reach her planned musicians for weeks...
My contact there knew that I had this song I'd wanted to share with women in domestic violence situations (You Did Everything Right), and so long story short: we wound up performing an opening and closing song for the event.
It couldn't have been a more ideal situation; we were in the same venue the night before, we had the same awesome sound person (Bleu--Thank you!), and best of all: I was finally able to connect this issue that is deeply moving to me with both the song I wrote and the organization I've come to work with and admire here in my own city.  So what an honor, oh my gosh -- What an amazing thing to come home to.

The mayor of Covington spoke, as well as the Secretary of State-- so, so good to see their support. But Justin and I were most honored and inspired to hear from two survivors of abuse, these brave and powerful women who have chosen to use their experience to reach out to communities across the country and to children and adults who may be in similar situations. They were so strong and compelling, so beautiful --

About half of the audience was high school students-- including a large group of guys from a local boys' catholic high school. It was so inspiring to see all of the students there: Seeing young women absorbing information & statistics, being reminded of their value and potential, their rights, the warning signs, all of it. And to see high school students witnessing these survivors, these inspiring women, and hearing their stories... Being prodded (along with the rest of us) to take responsibility on some level, to realize our capacities to make a difference with this issue: beginning with ourselves and extending outward --

Anyway, we came home with full hearts, to the place we call home, which sits now in the midst of the first fallen leaves, with its beloved creaking wooden floors, our luggage spilled out across its living room... And we put ourselves to bed. Welcome home Justin. :)