How’s everybody doing out there? Here in Waukesha,
Wis., Spring has not thoroughly sprung. It has teased us a bit with occasional
60-70-ish degree days, but overall it’s still pretty chilly. The upside to the
April chill is that we still have a whole lot of May’s warm goodness to look
forward to.
I wanted to take a moment to share something with
you all that recently turned out to be inspiring as well as a lot of fun for
me. First I want to say that I swear I meet the nicest people in the world. Back
in August of 2013, Todd and I attended the Helping Hands Midwest picnic in Ohio.
Here’s the link to the blog post I wrote about that: http://katiekolbergmemmel.blogspot.com/2013/08/helping-hands-midwest-picnic.html
Along with many other folks, we met a young family from northern Illinois. They
did not attend the gathering in 2014, but I could see via her Facebook posts
that she’d gone into business by opening a coffee shop.
A couple of months ago, out of the clear blue, she
messaged me and asked if I’d be interested to come down to her shop and do an
author event. She hoped to coordinate so that Tony could be her musical guest.
Her hope was to make it out to be a Lucky Fin family event. I’ll cut to the chase and
say that her request worked out perfectly with Tony and Lesleigh’s Spring tour.
The event took place this past Friday, April 24, and it was so special. Todd also
wanted to participate, so he took off a few hours early from work, and drove me
down to Long Grove, Illinois.
Lesleigh, Tony, Me, and Todd at Beans & Leaves in Long Grove, IL
The coffee shop, Beans and Leaves Coffee & Tea, https://www.facebook.com/pages/Beans-Leaves-Coffee-Tea-Cafe/108511809972?fref=ts
is in a very eclectic and artist-y area of their town. I told our hostess,
Ethel Robey-Berger, that it reminded me of Wisconsin’s own “Door County”
tourist area. Ethel had hoped that our event could be held outside on the shop’s
patio area; but (and you know what I’m going to say next) it was approximately
45 degrees and raining. ;) Soooo… inside
we went.
Tony and Lesleigh were already there and setting up
when we arrived. Since we were to share the stage as an
Author/Singer/Songwriter evening, Tony and I had decided that I’d start off the
evening, speaking about our early days. I spoke to the intimate “Standing Room
Only” crowd about how a young couple (Todd and me) went from meeting, dating,
and living as young marrieds; to the parents (me, now a stay-at-home mother) of
a child born with a limb difference. I shared Todd’s and my differing life
approaches, and how much I worried. I had so many questions – would Tony ever
play sports? Music? Find love? I spoke about some of my early feelings of
stranger’s stares and questions, and how I eventually chose to educate others through
my responses. “He was born this way,” I’d say. I believe that choice has made
all the difference in all of our lives.
I then left the stage area, and Tony and Lesleigh
put on an inspirational concert. He told stories of how certain songs came to
be. He invited Lesleigh to sing with him, and they shared their harmonies with
the crowd. Many kids were present, and so he interspersed childrens’ songs into
the show. As always, the whole crowd sang along to “The Lucky Fin” Song, which
often leaves ‘some people’ ;) teary. Here’s the link for the song/video, just
in case you’ve never seen it.
Right before the end of the concert, I went back on
stage and wrapped things up. “Remember all of my early questions? How I worried
if he’d play music, or if he’d find love? Well… how’s he doing?” I assumed from
the crowd’s applause that they feel he CAN play music well, and that the kids’
marriage and love are apparent. To end the show, Tony played “America to Go,”
which is one of my all-time Tony Memmel fav’s… (yes, I admit to having many,
but still…)
After the concert, people came up, introduced
themselves, and chatted. The kids sold CD’s and I sold/signed some books. It
was great to see some familiar faces from the Illinois chapter of the Lucky
Fin, and it was also great to make some new friends. But for me, I think that
the highlight of my night was meeting a young woman who is anticipating the
birth of her unborn Lucky Fin baby. She and her husband came out to hear Tony
play and to meet him in person. I think (I really do think) that seeing him and
Lesleigh perform, meeting Ethel, me and several other families of kids with limb
differences, was a big relief/support to them already. They now know they’re
not alone, and that many people have been where they are – and most of all, that
life can be so good, so positive, for our kids.
After we left the coffee shop, Ethel and her family
took the four of us to a local Italian restaurant. We shared some good food,
along with lovely conversation about everything from how they met, to their
kids’ school experiences, to music, to parents, to retirement… a little
something for each of us. It’s always such fun to get to know new friends, isn’t
it?
Anyway, I want to take this opportunity to thank
Ethel, her family, her employees, the Lucky Fin families who came out, and the
Long Grove community for welcoming us. What a great way to spend a rainy Friday
night in April…!
Katie
Kolberg Memmel is the author of “Five Fingers, Ten Toes – A Mother’s Story of
Raising a Child Born with a Limb Difference.” It is available through Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_c_0_13?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=katie+kolberg+memmel&sprefix=katie+kolberg%2Caps%2C182
For
more information about Katie, her book, her blog, and her writing go to www.katiekolbergmemmel.com
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