The "Come-Back" Kids!

NAEYC Orlando. 2011. Peabody Ballroom.
Annual NAEYC Friday-night tradition.

Meet Mimi Brodsky Chenfeld. She is the Arts-Mother-of-us-all. She is three parts mentor. Two parts coach. One part muse. Twelve parts inspiration. Ninety-nine parts guts, PURE GUTS....... and goodness gracious how many more parts are there to this woman? This is Mim sharing her spotlight and stage with me, her young protege and upstart. This is Mimi and me caught "dreaming" together -- in sign language. This is Mim + moi caught having a moment.

Mim has invited me up onto her grand stage. This is Mimi & me serenading the campfire circle of teacher-peer-friends at the conclusion of an amazing international gathering of talent, learning, sharing, stretching and growing. (Allen took the picture from the back of the packed ballroom, testing the camera's telephoto close-up capacity.)

I knew that she wanted me to lead the group in a gathering of my theme song, "You're Wonderful." I knew that it would be emotional for me, as I was worn out and battling a garden variety-cold with some laryngitis thrown in from talking 10 hours a day for 3 days straight. I knew that when I get worn out I tend to get emotional. Sharing the stage with Mim, following our sing-a-long, I described us as the "Come-back Kids." Some in the audience were familiar with each of our stories. Some knew one of the stories. Some had no idea.

Mim was driving her car and was T-boned by a truck. Literally in intensive care: shattered. How many broken bones? Just a blink ago. I on the other hand have had my innocence shattered by early Breast Cancer & it's ramifications & complications. Not once. Twice. Yet we have put the wheels back on our respective buses, regrouped and picked up the torch again and again and again and again to carry it forward. To carry it for children. To carry it for teachers. To carry.

I went digging in my blog's archive and found a picture of Mim during her rehabilitation phase, when we attempted to surprise her with a video-filming & outpouring of LUV...... but she got wind of our gathering and came to the party in person, riding her wheel chair with enthusiasm!!! I checked the blog's log date. It was less than two years ago!!!! (Click here to read that posting and see her amazing gathering of supporters in tie-dye..... all of Columbus: Ballet Met, GCAC, JCC, folk dancers, writers + poets + children et. al.) Only occasion -- ever --when Mim was at a loss for words.

Mimi and I have leaned on one another more than once. She calling me with delightful news to lift my spirits after my various surgeries. Me stopping by after Howie's funeral with projects to share. It's a mutual admiration society obviously -- our cheering one another forward. As long as life goes on, ya just keep putting one foot in front of the other.

Tonight I've learned that one of my new blogging buddies has received harsh news. As a youngster of 33, she has just received her second diagnosis of cancer-of-the-tongue. Rare to begin with. Unheard of to receive a second diagnosis with her youth. My heart is heavy on Mandy's behalf. She has created a blog-linky, to have us share our experience with cancer. To share some encouragement. To offer support. To come together. How truly amazing that I have the picture of the "Come Back Kids" captured together just last night.







What's my advice/insight to Mandy at the news of her second diagnosis? 

1. Allow yourself to feel ALL of your feelings and then 'let-them-go.'
2. Allow others to show their love & concern by giving them assignments-of-support.
3. When in doubt, ALWAYS fill yourself with hope.
4. Stay busy with tidbits that make you happy. Focus on those details.
5. Gather stories of "over-coming" for quick reference on overcast days or sleepless nights.
6. Expect people to say some wacky-stuff, know they mean well, then let it go. Forgive.
7. Find as many things to laugh about as possible: ie watch re-runs of your favorite comedies.
8. Add to your bucket list and focus on all of the amazing adventures that still await.
9. Remember to take good care of yourself in the whirlwind: baby steps -- prioritize.
10. Exhale deeply. With regularity. Then exhale again. Rinse and repeat. One step at a time.
11. Take a notebook to all of your medical appointments. Advocate for yourself!!!
12. Dust off your 'faith' circle of support, now's the time to go even deeper.

Readers. As a writer of a blog I know just how much it means, having a comment written on a blog post. How about hopping over to Mandy's and leaving a comment of support? How about 'following' her blog in the sidebar? If you're a fellow blogger -- how about joining the linky and sharing your thoughts and insight? We can make a difference to each other. We can connect through the cloud, by parting the clouds. We can be part of the come-back. I bet it would mean a lot to Mandy. I know it would mean a lot to Mandy.

Today as everything in the NAEYC exhibit hall was winding down, a very caring participant from last night tracked me down in my booth. She came to express her appreciation for my candid emotions of last night. She told me that it's all together too easy to sit in the audience of the 'big performers' and assume that we are in the spotlight because we've lived an 'easy' life and have had no 'distractions' from our talents or 'disruptions' to our goals. She was grateful to know that both Mimi and I have battled through hardships and that she had no idea of any of that history, until I got choked up. She told me that my candid sharing gave her hope -- to know that we are in the business of "over-coming + triumphing" offered her encouragement.

I'm grateful for her insight and her taking the time to come share it. I'm grateful that Mandy has chosen to use her experience to help educate others in the very midst of her own personal challenge. Mandy will be a ray-of-hope to others as they face challenges. There-in lies the one silver lining of challenges..... that we are offered an opportunity to become 'real' to one another.

Now hop over to Mandy's and become real. Thanks.

Debbie

NAEYC Celebrations!!!!

It's a REDLEAF PRESS PARTY!!!!!

It's a "One, Two, What Can I Do?" Party!!!!

It's a HIGHLIGHTS HIGH FIVE PARTY!!!!

It's a get-interviewed-for-radio-telecast party!!!!

It's a BIG-APPLE Hug Fest Party!!!!

It's a Donna Wittmer & Dr. Alice Hong Hug Party!!!

Exhibit Hall Opens

Wednesday night. The Exhibit Hall opens for a sneak preview of the hundreds & hundreds of vendors and all of the latest that's available on behalf of children. What a joy to have one of the very first thru the doors hug me, BIG time. Mimi walks again at NAEYC!! This time last year she was just barely out of the ICU. Oh happy day!! She is squeezing that book that has her endorsement on the back cover.

Right after our gen-u-ine hug, along came a participant from England. She was literally squeeling over my outfit. She requested a picture to take back across the pond, to show her colleagues what Mary Poppins looks like in this day and age. I loved her enthusiasm. Her dialect was delightful. Mary Poppins, indeed!! The evening was filled with support from all across the country. A great kick-off.

Saturday Morning Greetings

Every now & then you meet someone who blesses you.

This center director bought every single one of my 'products.'

She'd never heard of me before.

She'd never heard a single one of my songs.

She had never seen anyone sign either of my books.

She just bought the package deal, because she trusted me.

She trusted me when I told her that they were good.

An hour later I was running between my booth & my workshop, feeling just a weeee bit weary.

There she was reading my book to her grandson.

I nearly tripped over myself getting to my camera.

It was a moment that blessed me.

(Talk about instant gratification!)

And then my exhaustion was all worthwhile.

Thank you!!

OAEYC Mimi Returns

What a reunion. What an amazing reunion!! Mimi is just about 6 months from being hit by a truck, having had too many bones crushed to count, me with a new diagnosis of breast cancer and BILAT mastectomy in Januray. Our mutual friend Connie Dow who emerged from a car accident with a broken neck. Goodness sakes that's a lot of healing going on. The final picture is fellow music-maker Colleen, getting caught up on our lives on the road over the last year.

Tie-Dye & Joy, Joy, Joy

There aren't enough superlatives in the English language to attempt to share what an incredible evening transpired. Suffice it to say that we all enjoyed ourselves, and in the process I think Mimi was given just a glimmer of the sparkle that she has sprinkled on all of us thru the decades of her antics and shenanigans. We have listened. We have learned.

Joyce Grimes brought the sound system. Her daughter Krysta captured these pictures. [Together they have been my 'go-to' people of extraordinary energy of late.] Tammie created a scrapbook get well gift for all to sign, in addition to the posters that added color and heart to the evening. It was indeed an explosion of love & celebration. Let the healing continue. Let the mending be saturated with the delight of this evening. The village gathered. The village danced. We have learned much from the master. It was our great good fortune to have had the opportunity to celebrate our growth with our mentor-of-the-heart. Thanks be to all that is good in the universe for this rare occasion: the chance to say thanks & to say it publicly.

Mimi Love Fest

Peace, Love & Get Well Soon: Mimi Rally!! JCC. Bexley.

It's an idea that began over on Facebook when I posted a status about Mimi's accident and rehab process. People responded there and before you know it, Tammie Ezzo had volunteered to organize an event that would bring together happy faces and multiple generations from Mimi's diverse travels. Email trees sprouted all over the web.

Dress code: tie dye. When we originally percolated this idea our intention was to film the fun for her to watch at her leisure...... but Mimila is so very gifted & talented and her rehab is unfurling with such determiniation, that when someone let the cat outta the bag, she insisted on joining the fun. Mim is not one to miss out on a party, especially one in her honor. So Taryn signed her out, bundled her up and escorted her across the campus for an evening of utter adoration, joy and celebration.

What a GLORIOUS surprise to those assembled -- to see her roll in, beaming from ear-to-ear. It was an amazing event. There were dear friends from GCAC, Days of Creation, Action for Children, Artist in the Schools, Hilel Dance Troupe, Ohio Arts Council, Ohio Association for the Education of Young Children, Head Start, JCC staff -- present & past and of course children, lots & lots of children in all sizes and smiles.... and those are just the categories of people that I'm aware of.

The Schottenstein Auditorium was filled to the brim. The children sang for Mim. Then they danced. They clapped. I remembered to take my dozens of pompoms and they cheered and cavorted on cue. We froze funny faces.... and Mim made funny faces right back. Then together we learned a folk dance and had the young preschoolers circle up in the middle and a concentric circle of loving adults on the outside. It was a marvel. Truly an event filled to the brim with gratitude and joy.

Thank You Card Love

The sun is now out. I start this day rested and ready-to-go!! I've been up contemplating and considering. Many of you know my mentor, Mimi. I had announced here weeks? months? ago how excited I was to be able to co-present with her & Enrique in Washington DC for our sixth annual NAEYC presentation. That is not to be...... not this year.

A week ago Mimi was in a dramatic car accident. She is still in the hospital in the trauma unit and has yet to be able to get out of bed. She has multiple broken bones & other injuries. We will dedicate our workshop on "Movement" to Mimi's return to moving and ultimately to her walking..... and in the meantime she will continue dancing in our hearts.

Yesterday I was all set to go visit her in the hospital when our dear mutual friend Candace called to say that she'd been put on a 'no-visitor status.' The outpouring of love & affection was more than her recovery could withstand. We nearly swamped her with our concern. What a feeling of helplessness ensued.

So I awoke today thinking what a debt of gratitude I have for her. For our Mim: For her chutzpah. For her insight. For her heart-of-gold. For her energy. For her example. For her love. I have notes she's written to me tucked in my guitar case, scrunched in my blue box of surprises, folded in the cubbies of my desk drawers, crumpled into coat pockes, curled next to my toothbrush. Mim love. She's sprinkled it over our heads for decades and we've grown. Her scrawled peace signs and Mimila-joy offering encouragement for the journey, our journey together. She's always called me her rainbow child. She's stood in the back of many of my workshops, giving a silent 'whoop-whoop' of arm waving frenzy. She's stood back there giving me the thumb's up. She's been in the shadows continually taking her hat off to me, blowing kisses & sending me her strength. She's allowed me to ride on her coat tails. She's given my name to others. She is a blessing to us all, without a doubt. In that process she has been a blessing to me professionally and thereby to me personally..... or is it that she's been a blessing to me personally and thereby professionally? Thank all that is good in this world that we have a chance to tell her what she means to us after the collision.

Last night I was playing babysitter so that Sarah & Scott could go out to dinner to celebrate their fifth wedding anniversary. Sarah had a card that had been forwarded to me at their address:

Debbie --

I am so pleased & honored to have finally met you! I thank you for such an amazing gift of your music and special book! Every play group, I read the book & play the song for our families to start us out! I am so grateful for such a colorful, delightful way to share such an important & positive message! I thank you for the inspirational way you have used your gifts to touch my life, my daughters' lives and so many others!

Love & Respect,

Ronni

I am able to receive cards like this one due to all of the Mimi-time & attention that has been showered upon me thru the years. Thank you Mim. Thank you Ronni. (Ronni is a pretty exclamation-mark person herself, as perhaps you gather from her note to me(!).... and she looks great in pink. I think it's safe to say she was a bit excited to have me materialize at the twins-club purse-party earlier this fall. Giggle-giggle! Hugs!)

NAEYC -- DC Here We Come!!

We just received the word from NAEYC (National Association for the Education of Young Children) that we have our assignment for this year's up and coming national convention presentation in Washington DC. After five years in a row of co-presentations at the national level for Enrique and I together -- we are ready to make a truly and amazing leap. This year the Enrique & Debbie show is expanding....... there will be a trio of epic proportions: It's gonna be the Enrique, Debbie AND MIMI CHENFELD show!!! Make your reservations now. We are scheduled for Wednesday afternoon from noon till 4:00 on Nov. 18th. We only have four hours for the total presentation.... with all three of us being used to making all-day presentations individually -- I know the time is just going to absolutely fly by.

The top picture is Enrique & I in the Zaner-Bloser booth, (right beside parent company Highlights for Children) after our presentation last year in Dallas. The second picture is the great Mimi and I pretending to be a pair of bookends last spring @ OAEYC in Columbus. I sooooo want to get a picture of all three of us in the same frame. My goal. Mark your calenders. We'll find out the room & location as the day gets closer. It's going to be seriously awesome.

Grand Finale Adoration

At the end of the workshop, somebody got out their camera to get a picture of the two of us together. Then out popped another camera, and a phone camera and another and another. Suddenly we were engulfed with popping flashes. Wow. I really felt like I'd arrived. Two home grown presenters, making good in a wider world...... me, on the coat tails of the master. No one's looking in the same direction in any of the pictures -- because there were so many cameras popping. Fun. Fun. Fun.