On Stage

I've never felt more at home as I do when I am on a stage. It's like coming home from a long trip. You walk in the door of your house and think "It's good to be home". That's the feeling. I look out at the audience and just feel like I'm home. In my heart I feel that this is where I'm supposed to be. I have had many jobs in restaurants, offices, bakeries, department stores, gas stations, factories....none of them have ever meant as much to me as the times that I was on stage. It doesn't matter what stage or what city or what event or even if there was an audience. I just feel the most comfortable there.

When I walk into a theater or arena or any kind of show venue, I immediately get a picture in my mind of what it would look like from the stage with the house lights down and the spotlights shining. I can hear the crowd cheering and singing along. I can hear the music playing. I smile to myself as all of this passes through my mind. I know that I could just live in that room for the rest of my life and never leave. If I could, there would be a room just like a showroom in my house. Who knows, maybe I will have one someday.

We were asked to provide the music for my stepson's wedding this past weekend, so over the last month or so we have been piecing together a sound system. We purchased a sound board and a set of Yamaha speakers, speakers stands and cables, and new microphones and cables for them. All together we spent close to $1200, which isn't too bad. We got a couple of discounts here and there because we knew people who knew people, and we got a discount on the sound board because it was the last one they had and was the display model. But it's in mint condition, and works perfectly.

We set it up and it just blew me away. It was like a mini-concert. The place even had a mirror ball. The volume only has to be on the first or second notch, and it was loud enough to fill the room with music. I could have stayed and played for hours. I was having so much fun. It's really hard to describe that to people. It's not work, it's more like playing. I mean, just imagine if you were doing the thing that you love to do the most--fishing, flying, dancing, painting, singing, cooking, shopping--whatever it is that you really love to do. Now, imagine that not only do you get to do it, but that you were getting paid to do it. What an awesome job it would be. Well, I would do this for free.

And just to put icing on the cake, two of the couple's friends are interested in having me do their wedding receptions as well.

Sweet.