As some of you who have been here a while know, I have been devoted to supporting and promoting a young singer/songwriter from my area ever since she moved to Nashville last August.
A tremendously talented young woman and a truly beautiful soul.
While I knew Katie when she lived and back home, I didn't truly get to KNOW her until she moved away and through a series of circumstances and interactions, we became very close friends.
I supported her in a number of ways, all of which I am very proud to have done.
I helped her with her social media presences, increasing her followings.
I gave her computers, recording equipment, gift cards for setting up her new apartment, and I loaned her some money to help her consolidate her credit card debt and get her finances back in order.
My wife and I drove to Nashville last February to visit with Katie and to further support her and boost her confidence.
It was a long cold winter in Nashville, and Katie was struggling with doubts about her decision to move there and a number of other personal and internal conflicts.
She shared these struggles with me and I tried to offer support and encouragement to her on a daily basis.
From the Nashville trip
Unfortunately and regrettably friendships can be fragile things, and we had a bad day back in early May.
I was stressed to the max by a number of factors in my own life and in a moment of weakness, I stopped being Katie's friend and acted like and overbearing and controlling parent, of which she already had two.
She bucked, hard. And the friendship was terminated.
I was judged on a single moment of weakness that managed to outweigh all of the kindness and support I had given her for months and months.
She offered to return the gifts, which I flatly rejected, and she is paying the loan off as per our agreement, so there are no bad feelings there.
looking back on the big picture now, with time and distance spent from Katie, this is probably best for both of us.
She was sharing parts of herself with me that she should have been sharing with her boyfriend. 3,000 texts back and forth over the course of six months doesn't seem possible, rational, or healthy in today's lucid hindsight.
Plans that had been made and solidified for months suddenly unraveled.
My wife and I were scheduled to go to Nashville again in late May and take Katie to see her first BIG concert - U2 at Bridgestone Arena. The rest of the weekend was to be spent with Katie in quiet places, talking, laughing, and sharing stories, discussing business strategies and promotional ideas, trying to get her in front of the right people in the music business. Getting one little fish to stand out in an ocean full of little fishes.
The next weekend, Katie and her boyfriend were scheduled to be at our place in Virginia, attending a family get together with us and staying overnight before heading on to the beach for a few days to celebrate Katie's birthday.
All of this was scrapped and I was left scrambling to cancel travel plans and sell concert tickets. I could have sold one ticket and we could have still gone without Katie, but being in Nashville for a weekend and not seeing Katie would have just hurt more than it already did.
I got lucky and sold the tickets and got my associated bookings canceled and refunded.
I tried apologizing a couple of times, but it seemed to only make things worse.
I sent Katie her birthday present, but I never heard from her on whether she even accepted it or threw it away. I don't know if I will ever hear from or see her again. That hurts, but that's what life can do to any of us at any given moment.
Live in your moments, and don't dwell on the past or fret over the future.
A few images from the friendship...
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Sometimes what seemed to be tragic and bad can be turned into something better.
My wife was more disappointed in the canceled trip and events than I had anticipated, and I knew I had some ground to make up with her.
U2 was to be in Washington, DC on our 40th anniversary, and I was not going to allow the opportunity to slip away.
I used the recovered funds from the Nashville fiasco to procure two really good seats for us in DC.
I booked a room for us a block from the arena.
I arranged for her to have the day after the show off from work, without her knowing.
I designed custom t-shirts featuring our dorky wedding picture from 1978 on the front and the number 40 on the back.
I had a custom banner made to help reveal the surprise to her on the morning of the show.
... and I waited...
Sunday morning FINALLY got here and it was time to spring the surprise.
She was messing around the house and I needed her to get ready to travel. The DC drive is 2.5-4 hours, depending on traffic.
I told her that I wanted to take her out to lunch and that perhaps we should go a little early to beat the Father's Day crowds.
She began to get ready, and while she was in the shower I laid out my reveal.
The trip was perfect, excluding the drive, in every possible way!
We got settled into our room, got ready for the show, went out to eat an early dinner, and headed over to the arena.
Our seats were better than I had realized, and we were about 25 feet from the E-stage at the end of the runway.
U2 put on an incredible performance!
It was a magical night for both of us. My wife was happy and grateful, as was I.
I got some video, but U2's people did a better job, so here are a couple of clips from them.
Ain't life funny?!
