Last night was a blast; I definitely had fun! I had the pleasure of seeing my friend D. Scott Eads in concert at Sterling’s Upstairs at the Federal. As always, he was amazing, and he played in a sold-out room of 100 people!
The standout moments of the show:
1. I haven’t met you yet
2. Sway
3. Time in a bottle
Invite cards can help you make friends: our story:
I met Scott at Sterling’s Upstairs at the Federal three years ago. We were attending a show, and he was seated behind me. We introduced ourselves to each other and, while talking, traded social media info. Then he handed me an invite card with a headshot and information about his upcoming show. He told me that I should go, and I did; it’s one of the best choices I ever made 😊 I am blessed to have gained a wonderful friend
I can now publicly get excited about meeting these two groundbreaking women next month! Judy Heumann began fighting for the rights of the disability community in the late 1960s. She was a witness to the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act ( The ADA) in 1990,and she continues to speak about how the world needs to change its perspective of disability.
@alistroker is someone you definitely can call a #boundlessbabe she is an original member of @rollettes_la. She was the first and only legit wheelchair user to be on Glee, and she was the actor in our community to win a @tonyawards_ I know that there will be many more. I can’t wait to learn from these ladies.
Have yourself a Merry Little Christmas, Jacquelyn Schreber ( John’s pianist for the evening)
Quartet 405 performed What Child is this, and we wish you a Merry Christmas
White Christmas
Blue Christmas
It came upon a midnight clear
Oh Holy Night
Baby, it’s cold outside
The Christmas Song
Silent Night
The show, as usual, was wonderful and for the first time in the seven years that I’ve known John, I was able to sit in a.front row seat.
John always does beautiful work, but this particular performance was something very special.
I sang along to every song, and I even knew the words to it came upon a midnight clear, which is a challenging song!
John and I, in December 2017John and I in December of 2015
Our friendship Story
I met John on October 13th, 2014, at Sterling’s Upstairs at The Federal in North Hollywood. During the show, he strolled the audience while singing Hey There Lonely Girl, and when he got to where I was, he reached out to hold my hand, and I didn’t go for it.
After the show, I was the first person in line for the meet and greet. We took a picture, and I asked for a hug, to which he said
How can I say no!
He hugged me, and we said goodbye. I honestly thought that meeting John would be a one-time event in my life.
There was a one and a half year period that we did not see each other due to a lack of accessibility at a new venue, but I’m grateful to once again be in his audience again.
To date, I’ve seen John over 40 times in Los Angeles alone. Each time I see him, not only am I elated fan, but I feel like I’m a student ready to learn something new.
I would love for the tables to turn someday and have him see me perform.
One year ago today, I published my second episode of Encouragement Notes! I created this podcast because I felt God calling me to tell my story on another platform for the purpose of reaching more people for him. Thank you for being here with me. I love and appreciate you. Please feel free to share this podcast with your family and friends and reach out to me with any comments or questions you may have.
“In your anger do not sin”: Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, Ephesians 4:26
2. Ask forgiveness repeatedly
Whoever claims to love God yet hates a brother or sister is a liar. For whoever does not love their brother and sister, whom they have seen, cannot love God, whom they have not seen. And he has given us this command: Anyone who loves God must also love their brother and sister. 1 John 4:20-21
3. Offer forgiveness freely
Get rid of all bitterness, rage, and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ, God forgave you. Ephesians 4:31-32
4. Recognize that God holds us responsible for us
If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. Romans 12:18
The reality that.there are people that use equipment to get around in their daily life needs to become the norm in media, so much so that the person using the equipment is seeing as a person, and the equipment fades into the background.
Marie Nicole Zimmerle
I connected with a chance to Fly right away; it had my attention when Nat Beacon goes to her first wheelchair racing team practice because I used to participate in an event called The exceptional games.
I also know the feeling of having to stick up for yourself when told you can’t participate in something simply because of perception. This point in the book took me back to being exactly 13 years old, the age that Nat was when she joined the Broadway bounders.
Furthermore, I know what it feels like to show up somewhere and not be provided proper accessibility. In those instances, there is camaraderie and brainstorming that quickly needs to happen.
I also know the hopeful side of things where people that have helped me before want to help me so I won’t miss out, or they want to rethink the current routine of an Activity so that I can continue to participate.
At the heart of this book is the lesson that we should not judge anybody by their outside appearance that people that are quote-unquote different should not be afraid to speak up and ask for help I’m so glad that this book is out into the world, congratulations Ali and Stacy
In 2003 I was blessed to meet my best friend, Noel Williams. She was 24 and I was 21. Our friendships began one day when we were both waiting for our rides home; we took the same van service to and from campus. We would eventually start sharing rides to and from school because we lived so close to each other.
We had the best conversations while we were waiting for our rides. We talked about us. views on life, and the fact that we saw the things that most people would consider setbacks and disability we saw as simply as a different way of living life. We agreed that the word disability should only be applied to a vehicle that was broken down or without Gas, not to people who were alive and breathing. We also spoke about the ways that we wanted to change the world. We wanted to use our voices to make the use of equipment a “normal” part of society. The length of our relationship was only 7/months long. My last memory of my dear friend was the week before Thanksgiving break. We shared a ride home that day, and on the way to Noel’s house, I asked her what she was doing for the holiday. She shared with me that she was going to be visiting Indiana with her family and that. She would be back on December 5th.
My first day back to school, which also was the day of my theatre final. I was nervous but I was ready. I had to perform a monologue in which I was a mother of an ungrateful kid. My instructor asked me to dig deep and show emotion.
When I got to school that morning, there was a woman named Francine waiting for me where I was going to be dropped off. She said, “Excuse me, are you a friend of Noel Williams? Yes, I said. Did she come back from her vacation yet? I need to tell you that she passed away two days ago.’ I was in shock when she told me the news. I went to class and did my scene and cried my eyes out.
I’ll always be grateful to my friend and what she taught me.
As a blog post, this celebration is a day late, but I celebrated yesterday on my other social media outlets. October 13th, 2014, was the evening that I met my dear friend John Lloyd Young. That was a night that I will never forget.
I’ll always remember the music for Can’t Take My Eyes off of You Starting and wondering where John was because we could hear him, but he was nowhere to be seen. All of a sudden, my mom elbows me and says
Turn around. He’s right behind you!
And he was looking right at me. During the show he came out into the audience singing, Hey There Lonely Girl, and tried to hold my hand. I wouldn’t let him. At the end of the night, I asked for a hug, and he said,
How could I say no
And hugged me. Little did we know that was the beginning of a beautiful friendship.
I’ve had the pleasure of seeing and cheering on my handsome and talented friend 36 times. The majority of those meetings taking place at Sterlings Upstairs at the Federal in North Hollywood and the rest of our time together has been at Feinstein’s at Vitello’s in Studio City. Below are some of my favorite memories of us.
We all have pieces of our lives that we feel are missing because of the safer at home situation we are in. What do you miss most?
For me, I miss going out regularly. I’m not only referring to dressing up and going to concerts. I miss the weekly routine of going to Bible study, sitting on a comfy couch, and chatting with my friends. I also miss freely being able to hug someone with.
Tonight I was able to participate in a Webinar called women in media and ministry. It was a conversation about women media and relationships.
I We learned that to maintain our sanity; we need to first and foremost need to stay in God’s Word and maintain our prayer life. We also need to place importance on taking care of our relationships with one another. We need to make time for virtual tea times and coffee dates, and if we are comfortable, we need to invite friends over for some socially distanced lunches ask them to bring their lunch an sit on your porch while you sit in your door way and talk to them.
Encouragement Notes Podcast 