...wow...

The benefit at Castaways this evening was just incredible. Daniela & I know that not everyone who wanted to be there was able to make it - we missed you. And thank you to all of you who were able to make it happen. It was a huge contribution to us and it was such a joy to speak with all of you. Many of you, I haven't seen since the last benefit or maybe I saw you once since then. It was a wonderful reunion with so many people. Thank you John Reilly Band, Kevin Kinsella, Hank Roberts & Eric Aceto, and Sim Redmond Band. You provided all of us with beautiful music from beginning to end.

There was also a nice group of kids with us this evening which brought a lot of playfulness to the evening. Thank you Castaways for making that provision.

I have to say I spent the last few days not wanting to be anywhere near the benefit. You're probably scratching your head wondering what I'm talking about. Well, it's very confronting for me to ask for your support. I didn't like doing it last year and I don't like doing it now. And I knew that once I saw all of your smiling faces all of that would change. And it did. It immediately disappeared and I spent the evening talking, laughing and celebrating the fact that as of July 21st, there is no cancer in my body. Heck I even saw Fil - my sisters first boyfriend - who I haven't seen in...18 years (?) and got to meet his wife, too.

Thank you Kelly for simply coming up with the idea of second benefit and then preparing those delicious Chinese hors'd'oeuvres. Thank you Patty McNally & Jerry Codner who made sure ya'll had as many servings of those delicious hors'd'oeuvres as you needed - not to mention all the various other things you probably did that I don't even know about. Thank you to Mary Whitig's boss who rolled in with ribs and cornbread. C'mon! How great is that??? Thank you Michelle Newhart for managing the raffle and donating a gift certificate to Karma Hair Salon and managing those great prizes - although that big case of Red Bull looked a little scary! (Not that I haven't made good use of a can of Red Bull or several during my pre-diagnosis days). Thank you Kevin Kinsella for managing the evening, emceeing, and closing out the night for us - since neither Daniela & the boys nor I had the energy to stay through the entire event. Thank you Dewey Neild for donating your beautiful Upstate New York waterfall calendars [only click on this link if you have a high speed connection]. Thank you Katie and crew for doing the merchandise table. It was wonderful to see Letters to the Prison City on the table for sale in a bar, even if I didn't perform. I've performed for years always saying, "No, we don't have a CD...yet." Now there's a CD, but no band!!! Definitely hysterical. And I have every intention to have another band sometime in 2009. Thank you to Will Russell and Nells for doing sound. And thank you Castaways for the venue and staff.

And as I promised, I wore a nice (yellow, not blue) paper mask the entire time I was there. It took a whole lot of something for me to keep that thing on my face. Who's the guy in the paper face mask? Okay. Most people knew. But it still felt a little awkward around the few folks who I didn't know, because even some of the folks I do know didn't know why I was wearing it. So, if you fit into that catagory, the reason for the mask is because chemotherapy seriously weakens the immune system and a common cold could easily turn into a serious cold and then turn into pneumonia. Then the chemo has to stop, etc, etc. Yeah. I settled on the paper mask. Look a fool or experience the said illness. Fool works just fine for me!

I probably forgot to acknowledge someone. Probably someone who was incredibly generous. I'm certain I didn't thank all of you who donated raffle items. Please let me know if you were missed. Your generosity means a great deal to us and we would like to acknowledge you.

And thank you again - everyone - for hell of a night. We love you.