Ladies sing your heart(s) out

That was the title of the show we went and saw in New York this weekend. Khalila's great grandparents were in the show. She calls them Bubbe and Poppoppop, expanded a bit from the original Poppop. The play was all about an audition and it was set in the 40's. I happen to be a fan of much of that music, so I enjoyed lipsynching a bit. We all laughed as it was hilarious, also entertaining. During intermission Lili jumped up onstage and grabbed the Clark Gable photo and started singing "I love you, I love you" imitating the actress who had held the photo and sang "You made me love you" and she did some dancing and other imitations.

They were happy to have Khalila there. It was a hard weekend as they had a memorial service for a dear friend and wonderful man named Roger. Prayers to his family and friends. Bubbe and Poppop are so inspiring and absolutely wonderful, they are in their 80's and work out everyday, in this show that runs 9 times, and members of many many things. I love them dearly and am grateful that they are in my life, and particularly glad Khalila has them as great grandparents. All of my grandparents died before Khalila decided to bless my life so I have no great grandparents to give her.

Hallo-Hallo-Halloween was so much fun. A busy day, as we were Deval Patrick on the same day but we managed to get out there for some trick-or-treating. We brought two other people with us, an 11 year old and a 14 year old from the house. Kevon had already been out there for two hours, so we didn't end up going with him, he went with his friends.

Little Miss Lili was so adorable. She was a fire fighting ballerina and I love the contrasts of the two and how beautifully they go together. She is fearless, strong, and helpful to others like the characteristics of a fire fighter. While she also embodies artistic expression, grace, and flexibility like the characteristics of a ballerina. Of course this is not to box in either one of these professions, and to acknowledge that fire fighters and ballerinas are many things and many characteristics and personalities.

After Khalila would say her trickortreat and get her gift, she would say to every person "thank you, happy halloween" and don't let the house have a dog, because then she didn't even care about the candy, she was all about "oh, a doggie, can I pet your dog, I want to say hello to the dog" sometimes forcing herself into the house.

Deval Patrick

Deval Patrick is an alumni of the A Better Chance program, of which I am the resident mother at the program in my town. Deval came to the house last spring and had dinner. On Tuesday he was scheduled to speak at Umass and the ABC house was invited to sit on stage behind him while he spoke. I know that Deval has made mistakes in the past, but I really like who he is now and what he stands for.

I had a lot of fun being a part of that, and it is great for my guys to see that in a country where more men of color go to jail then to college, and where the achievement gap is so wide, that they can prevail and reach their dreams.