The Journey

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Peace, Love, and Music

Our neighbors for the weekend greeted us with smiles and offered any help we needed setting up.  Quickly understanding the concept, I helped our one set of neighbors get their pop-up tent in place.  When they heard that we were first-time festival goers, they’d quickly offer advice as to the best practices to get the most out of the festival. Hearing the stories about how long some of these people had been attending the festival was absolutely amazing.  One had been coming every year since 1969, others were at their 15th, 20th or 30th festival.  One guy, now in his 30’s grew up at the festival, first attending with his parents as an infant and continuing to make the trek now as an adult.  They came from all over, near and far.  The gentleman that has been coming since 1969, Allen, flew in from Ogden, Utah and rented an RV for the weekend with a buddy.  He originally grew up in the Philly area, but said that he’d never miss a fest, regardless of the distance that he might have to travel.  When I told him that this was our festival, he said, “Man I gotta give you a hug, this is gonna change your life!  There’s nothing here but peace, love, and music.” At this point, we were only there for about an hour, but I knew that we in a special place.  This wasn’t just a music festival; it was a community.

Youkilis, the Golden Retriever

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Forever Isn’t Long Enough

Today marks one year since Youk took his last ride. I don’t think a day goes by that Sandy and I don’t have a conversation about him.  When we arrive at a new spot, or a park to walk or ride our bikes at, almost inevitably, one of us will say, “Youk would have loved this place.” Our life is so different without him in it anymore. This past weekend at my book signing in Clarksville, Tennessee, I was telling a family Youk’s story.  I told them, “He had a good long life.  He lived to be a little over 15-years-old, got to see 46 states, and one Canadian province with us, but we still miss him every day.  No matter how long you have them, you want them around longer.” The father of the family, immediately responded, “Yeah, forever isn’t long enough.” That hit me like a ton of bricks.  “Ain’t that the truth.”  I replied.

Many Little People

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Teri M. Brown – Lessons from a Double-Butted Adventure

Born in Athens, Greece as an Air Force brat, Teri M Brown came into this world with an imagination full of stories to tell. She now calls the North Carolina coast home, and the peaceful nature of the sea has been a great source of inspiration for her creativity. Not letting 2020 get the best of her, Teri chose to go on an adventure that changed her outlook on life. She and her husband, Bruce, rode a tandem bicycle across the United States from Astoria, Oregon to Washington DC, successfully raising money for Toys for Tots. She learned she is stronger than she realized and capable of anything she sets her mind to. Teri graduated from UNC Greensboro with a multitude of degrees – majors in Elementary Education and Psychology and minors in Math and Sociology – she just couldn’t settle on one thing! While homeschooling her four children, she began her writing career by focusing on small businesses, writing articles, blog posts, and website content.

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