The Foorce

As I sat down 10 minutes before the DMF concert with my two toddlers, I looked around the auditorium in dismay. There was no way I was going to make it through this concert – my 14 month old was already whining and my 2 year old was complaining “I can’t see!” while standing on her seat. The place was filling up fast and I couldn’t help but feel sorry for myself as I watched happy and excited concert-goers waving friends and family over to seats saved just for them.

My husband has been working a lot this holiday season. And by a lot I mean every weekend and up to 20 hours a day – an insane but occasional side effect of being an attorney in NYC. It has been a long few weeks of juggling 3 children’s busy schedules, houseguests, holiday celebrations and a myriad of middle school tours, meetings and interviews. There do not seem to be enough waking hours during the two weeks leading up to Christmas to plan for gift shopping, the Giving Back For The Holidays event (See Upcoming Events), a lot of baking, holiday parties, and middle school decisions (due this week). But the same two weeks might as well be forever as I do all of this while waiting for my husband to get a couple of days off so we can spend some much needed downtime as a family.

Add to this the struggles I’ve been having with James lately, the sleep deprivation cumulated over several weeks and the realization that one of my favorite ways to get in the holiday spirit (see my Top Ten list) was about to be crushed by my two squirming toddlers, and you can begin to understand what I was feeling as the lights dimmed and the show began. I really needed this concert.

If for some reason I have fallen behind on my ravings about DMF recently, I was only reminded ten-fold today that there is good reason that Daniel’s Music Foundation is on my Top Ten favorite holiday activities (see Top Ten post). Within 5 seconds of the first song starting Adam and Margaret were bouncing and clapping along. It was no small effort, but I give DMF members equal credit for entertaining my children well enough to make it through the entire show (with only one bathroom break and a lot of aisle dancing) – a true Christmas miracle! Though I don’t have live clips from the show yet, click here to watch the HOPE week video shown during the concert today (can y0u find James on stage? hint: long sleeve white button down).

For those of you unfamiliar with Daniel’s original “Thank You Song,” (available on itunes!) the gist of it is Daniel thanking all of the people who have helped him, loved him and cared for him. So taking a page from his book (without the awesome music and rhyming lyrics):

Thank you DMF members for jump starting my holiday spirit this year with an amazing show, one of the best yet!

Thank you for making me remember that no matter how many middle schools and places in life James does not belong, he will always be welcome, comfortable and celebrated at DMF.

Thank you instructors and volunteers – without you none of this would be possible for James, or any other DMF member. I am always in awe of your unwavering enthusiasm and generosity and appreciate your time and effort more than you could possibly know.

Thank you Trush family for continuing to be an inspiration to me and my family year after year – you are a shining example of what love, respect, empathy, motivation, determination and a little humor can accomplish.

Thank for making me remember that it is definitely still “A Season To Smile.”

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Congratulations to DMF members and the Trush family for another wildly successful event!