Letter #80 - Joey

I've mentioned before how I have a number of adopted family members, including quite a few siblings.  Joey is one of my adopted brothers.  When my family lived in the Netherlands, he actually lived with us for a few months and became a part of the family.  Joey is quite simply a force of nature.  His love for life is so incredibly infectious, and he is an incredibly gifted musician.  His vocals and piano playing can move me to tears... in fact when it came to picking music for my wedding last fall there was no question in my mind that Joey had to be a part of it.  My husband had written a song for me, which we chose for me to walk down the aisle to and Joey (along with a couple of our other musician friends) created the most incredible instrumental version of it to play live... it was so amazing!

Recently I have been going through this serious musical nostalgic phase and listening to all kinds of stuff that I listened to as a teenie bopper... Joey was living with us during that time and so I've been thinking of him a lot.  We used to have these awesome singing parties with each other, and he would crash my piano practice sessions and play all the pop songs while I'd sing with him.  I decided it was as good a reason as any to send him some love and so I did.  Just thinking about Joey makes me smile... I've shared so many huge life moments with him, and so many small life moments that add up to huge ones.  He has had a really big influence on my life and how I try to live and how I try to carry myself, and I am so incredibly grateful for that influence and his friendship and love!

Letter #17 - Airen

As many people as I know, today I actually had a hard time thinking who I felt like writing to.  It was an interesting experience for me, because usually when I decide I need to send a note to someone, it's pretty easy to pick someone out quickly.  Today I thought and thought all day.  A few times I even went so far as to put the stationary in front of me with a pen, and nothing would come.  Finally I decided to try something.  I closed my eyes and just focused on my breath as I meditated for a moment.  Almost immediately, the face of my friend Airen entered my mind.  So Airen it was!

Airen and I met via my husband's network of musician friends.  She used to be married to a guy he performs with sometimes, and she and I quickly became friends.  Airen and I run with very different circles.  She's a rock 'n' roll biker chick, and I'm well, not.  We do, however, share views on many things in life, and we share a passion for photography and for cooking.  I had the privilege of photographing her wedding.  We also share a passion for yoga, though I hate to say I haven't been in probably a year... which I hate.  She is a true free spirit and I just love her.

Writing to Airen made me reflect on the artistic side of my life.  Whenever I hang out with her I always feel inspired to just go out somewhere with my camera and shoot until I run out of disc space.  I hardly ever get the chance to do so anymore... rather, I hardly ever make the time to do so... another thing I need to improve about myself.

I hope my card finds her in good spirits, and that she acts on the request I included :o)