THANK YOU!

Dear friends and family!

This email is all about prayers, love, and support. Did I mention the LOVE part? 😊

The holidays are right around the corner! Gosh! Can you believe it? You know what that means? I have a birthday quickly approaching! And not just any birthday—it’s my 60th! Woo-hoo!

Yes, as many of you know, on December 11, I turn the BIG 6-0. So, since it is my big one, may I please request five very special favors from you? 😊

As many of you know by now, I decided to postpone my 60th birthday Hullabaloo! My awesome loving niece has breast cancer and is currently undergoing treatment. I am honored and humbled that I get to be “her person” as she goes through this journey. Your prayers and uplifting messages have been welcome. THANK YOU!

Thanks for all the love and support this year and over, well, my whole life! As many of you know, I was to have one big celebratory birthday function this year to mark my 60 awesome years on this earth.

While this isn’t happening as planned, selfishly, I would like to ask that you give me the birthday gift of honoring my requests. I truly believe the world could use a little bit more love and happiness.

Without you, I must admit my life would not be as loving and rich, and for that, I am thankful and oh, so grateful!

THANK YOU for allowing me these five requests that are all very close and dear to my heart!

1. May I ask for your continued love and prayers for my niece? She is my heart and is an absolutely magnificent person and so deserving of miracles in her life!

2. *Let’s CELEBRATE ALL OF YOU!* My 60th birthday Hullabaloo was to celebrate my turning the big 6-0, but really the Hullabaloo part was to celebrate YOU! So, I have moved the Hullabaloo to July 1, 2023! Go ahead and add it to your calendar now. 😊 Two hundred of my cherished family members and friends will be my treasured guests for a night to remember! The event will take place at MoPOP, formerly known as EMP (The Experience Music Project). I have a fond appreciation of this place and was humbled when asked by the late Paul Allen to not only build out the Hip Hop exhibit but also to produce several albums for his architectural creation and historic musical and sci-fi exhibits. What a project! For more info on MoPOP, see Museum of Pop Culture - Wikipedia.

I promise you it will be a magical evening with dinner, dancing, music, and personal tours of the museum. The celebration will be topped with a personal musical set by yours truly and my band—and I’ll throw in a special guest or two! I hope you will mark your calendars now and plan on being here in Seattle for a really fun evening to see some old friends and make some new ones and—last but not least—to create some more amazing memories for our next 60 years together!

3. My special request: Would you consider making a small donation to Gentle Carousel Miniature Therapy Horses for my birthday this year? A multi-award-winning 501(c)(3), loving thousands of adults and children each year, the charity is celebrating 25 years of service in 2022.

Gentle Carousel is my favorite nonprofit in the world. They give so much to so many, and the CEO and co-owner is a good friend and the fantastic editor of Simply PetsKIDS magazine.

I understand these are difficult times for everyone, but while we hear about issues from the comfort of our homes on the radio or television, Gentle Carousel miniature horses are the loves in the trenches, running in when hours run out, giving and spreading love to so many in their times of great, great sorrow!

I am so in LOVE with these wonderful people and the wonderful animals that serve so many during the most unimaginable times that people go through.

They have a gigantic fundraiser on December 7 and could use some support! For more information about this fantastic organization, visit the website: Gentle Carousel Miniature Horse Therapy | Equine Therapy (gentlecarouseltherapyhorses.com).

Please blow up the poster regarding the December 7th event below. You can scan the barcode to go directly to the special event fundraising.

Little Hero Horse Magic was on the team called in to comfort survivors and first responders of the mass shootings at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, CT, the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, SC and the Pulse nightclub in Orlando, FL. She helped the tornado survivors of Moore, OK, victims of the fires in Gatlinburg, TN, families in the aftermath of multiple hurricanes, families and first responders after the condo collapse in Surfside, FL and has visited thousands of patients in children's and veterans hospitals across the country.

Working indoors would be a challenge for any horse but Magic makes it look easy, even in high rise hospital buildings. She walks up and down steps, rides in elevators, walks on unusual floor surfaces, carefully moves around hospital and television studio equipment, works in small patient rooms and stays calm around unexpected sounds like ambulances, alarms and hospital helicopters...and yes she is house trained.

Magic has visited Congress in Washington, D.C., Arlington National Cemetery and the 911 Memorial in NYC. She helped teach a class at Columbia Medical School, was invited to meet the twin baby pandas at Zoo Atlanta and has been on the concert stage in Nashville, Tennessee.

Magic is part of Gentle Carousel Miniature Therapy Horses, an award winning 501(c)(3) non-profit charity celebrating 25 years of service in 2022. Teams of tiny horses bring love to thousands of adults and children each year inside hospitals, hospice programs, assisted living programs, and with families, veterans and first responders who have experienced traumatic events.

The therapy horses go through a two year basic in-hospital training program but are always learning new skills. The horses work with medical professionals in oncology units, the ICU, and with occupational, speech and physical therapists as part of the treatment for patients who have suffered strokes, traumatic brain and spinal cord injuries, amputations and burns.

4. Please send me your mailing address, even if you believe that I have it. PLEASE! 😊 I have something I want to send to you. I would love to see my peeps here in Seattle between now and the final holiday of the year, if for nothing else than to toast our friendship!

5. I would appreciate an invite to coffee between now and the new year! I would love to share some laughs and hugs with you. I plan on being here (God willing) next year and beyond my celebration, but we never know. We should always cherish the moments that we have and remember that life is short! I appreciate and love all of you!

THANKS for reading my long letter, and thanks for sharing in my celebration and support of Gentle Carousel Miniature Therapy Horses! 😊

~Me