Tartan Day 2015

Had a good time at Tartan Day today!

My band has been such great support to me throughout my grieving process so far, and today was no different. I can't even begin to explain how much I love these people.

They make me laugh with goofy antics.

And when it comes down to playing music, they are all business.

Too bad I didn't get a picture of Ann and Cal Lloyd today and maybe a photo of Kate dancing. Pure class, all three of them.

March Madness -- Smiling Through The Tears

Huge thanks -- HUGE -- to my band-mates, for getting me through the toughest time of my life ... you smiled, you made me smile, and together we created happy memories for our audiences, even as our own memories of March Madness 2015 will be bittersweet. Kate Valley, Don Pigeon, Matt Miller,  and Ann & Cal Lloyd: I love you! 

Thanks, too, to Rob Adolph for being our wonderful sound support, and thanks to Tam Smalling for merch sales and everything else. I am sure Greg is smiling -- Long Live Celtic Heritage!

To Memorialize Greg

Hey friends, letting you know I’m doing fine. Carrying on, just the way that Greg wanted me to do.

In his last few days, as we faced the reality of his passing, I asked Greg, “You know I’m not a flowers kinda gal. Is there some charity or something that you’d like people to contribute to in your memory?” Without hesitation, he named New World Celts, as they too have a mission to share Celtic culture. When I contacted our home chapter, New World Celts - (Asheville Chapter), they said they’d been considering establishing a scholarship in his honor/memory. Obviously, it was meant to be!

When I shared this with Greg, he was immensely pleased. A scholarship, for the exploration and study of Celtic music and dance. I can think of no more fitting tribute to a man for whom music was not just an interest, but a passion and indeed a way of life.

So it’s with great pleasure that I call your attention to the Greg McGrath Memorial Scholarship Fund. New World Celts, Asheville (NC), a chapter of New World Celts, a USA 501c3 charitable corporation, will administer the fund. (For those unfamiliar with the New World Celts, their mission statement appears at the end of this note.) I’ll be involved with the scholarship every step of the way. Details, including announcement of a selection/steering committee, eligibility, and application process will be forthcoming. I’m very excited about this! Though it’s a big task, I’d love to name its first recipient by summer’s beginning.

You may send and make donations payable to:
New World Celts Asheville Chapter
P.O. Box 1681
Asheville, NC 28802
attn: Greg McGrath Fund

Or, if you prefer, you may donate online. Here's a link to the tribute page found on the Celtic Heritage website; from there, you can follow the link to a secure donation site:
http://www.celticheritageproductions.com/mcgrath.htm

Thank you all, for all that you have meant to Greg and me, both personally and professionally.

Mission Statement of the New World Celts: To promote awareness of the outstanding contributions and history of the Celtic peoples in the formation and continuance of the New World. To provide a forum for the exchange and promotion of Celtic cultural information between the Celtic Associations of the New World; To act as liaison for coordination of and assistance to these Organizations. To provide a vehicle for charitable donations to promote Celtic culture in the New World in the areas of Cultural awareness, music, dance, athletics, re-enactments, and other areas deemed appropriate by the International Execute Committee. To support all Celtic cultural non-political, non-religious, non-racist organizations that espouse the same high ideals as ours, regardless of whether they are Scots, Irish, Galician, Manx, Welsh, Breton, or Cornish. To perpetuate Celtic Culture and history in the New World. To provide a fraternal atmosphere for members.

I am sitting quietly, quietly at the Hospice Care Center. It is a beautiful place of love and light. And I am watching Greg sleep. I've watched him the last few days ... no matter how much pain he is in or how visibly agitated, he always has a compliment and a kind word for his caregiver. He always thanks them. And they all love him; you can tell he has a positive influence on them; even though they treat thousands of different people with hundreds of different concerns they clearly regard him as someone special.

I think: Where have I seen this before? And I remember: my father. Greg is so very like my father in that regard. With both, there were those quick and fearsome flashes of temper when someone or some situation had just gone too far. But never, ever failing to give credit where credit was due.

Even in sickness, helping those around him to feel good.

Miracles

Brrrrr!  It's cold outside!  I'm in Asheville, NC, to produce tonight's Celtic Winter Blast ... just checked the outdoor temp and it's already at the forecast high for the day: 39 degrees. Although I've got the heat on, I feel the cold creeping toward me!  And I'm reminded of a time, many years ago ...

Back in 1976, when my dad was 50 years old, he developed Myasthenia Gravis, a neuromuscular disease that in his case was characterized by debilitating muscle weakness.  Searching for relief, by January 1977 he'd ended up in Shands Hospital, Gainesville, Florida.  My mother and I had gone back home to Arcadia, to work during his hospitalization.

January 19, 1977: The Day It Snowed In Miami

I was working as a teacher's aide in Arcadia, in a moden, practically windowless building.  The extreme cold in Miami had put a tremendous load on the power grid, and rolling power outages were the order of the day.  Imagine a building full of squirrely adolescents with only emergency lighting and no heat!  Since they were already in school, special preparations had to be made to call an early closing, so we were all stuck with each other for a few hours, at least.

And then the unexpected call came from my father.  "Please come get me.  They are discharging me today, because there's nothing they can do for me."

Sitting at my desk in the semi-dark, I felt the cold creeping toward me.  Was it physical cold?  Or was it the cold, empty feeling of "there's nothing they can do for me."  Time seemed to move unnaturally slowly as I contemplated my father's hopeless case.  By the time my mother and I were finally able to get on the road for Gainesville, we were both numb from cold and worry.  I still remember that drive ... occasionally touching the window glass of the car to feel how much colder it had gotten outside ... seeing great icicles dangling from tropical plants ... and I remember seeing my father's pale and grim face as they brought him in a wheelchair to the car.  "There's nothing they can do for me."

He lived another 27 years.  Most of them were fairly healthy years.

I'll spare you the details of the series of miracles that led to his eventual relief, but I will just say how grateful I am to God for those miracles, and for the medical team who were His earthly agents of healing.

It's time for another miracle, God willing. 

Greg can use your positive thoughts and prayers.  Thank you all for holding us close to your hearts.

More Better

Yesterday, returning home from the fourth performance in as many days, I stopped for fast food.  (Don't judge.  When you're as sick of driving as I sometimes get to be, stopping for a sit-down meal is not an option.)

Waiting in line at KFC, I studied my options and made my choice, but when I actually gave my order, the fellow at the register encouraged me to order differently: If you get this heah othah one, he said, pointing to a placard on the counter, it's 'bout the same thing, but mo' cheapah.  He said "No problem" to the substitution I'd have to make in order to eat while driving.  (Again, no judging please.)  And he also pointed out that I'd get a cookie!

Once upon a time, I would've been a little put off by the bad grammar.  Once upon a time, I would've wondered why in the world KFC would have a counter representative -- essentially the front man for their establishment -- who wasn't passably well-spoken.  But unfortunately, in recent years I find myself more and more surprised when I get good customer service.  These days, I'll even take indifferent service over hostile and argumentative service.  This man, grammatically inept though he may have been, was cheerful and caring as he steered me towards that mo' cheapah menu option.

I hope I see him again.  (The food was pretty delicious, especially that cookie, so it's not unlikely that I'll go back.)  

His customer service rating?  An enthusiastic, 5-star, MO' BETTAH!

Tribute to Hughie

Just learned of the death, last Sunday, of friend and fellow musician Hughie Purcell. Hughie, a member of Boston-based band Celtic Clan, was an incredibly talented musician and one of the funniest people I know. Even when I knew what was coming, he was such a clown; he'd have me practically rolling in the aisles with his on-stage antics. And he was SO supportive of me, when I first started playing out. A friendly, genuine individual, who'll surely be missed. Tír na nÓg's House Band is going to sound just a bit sweeter, and the breaks are going to be just a bit more comical ... RIP, Hughie.

Hughie at the 5th Annual Peace River Celtic Festival in 2005. He could play banjo. He could play bass. He could play fiddle and guitar and I don't know what else and he could sing. He could do it all musically, I believe, and he enjoyed it, and by golly he invited you to enjoy it too!