Midnight.

It's midnight as I write this. Consequently, this isn't going to be a terribly long post.  I've thought about what I wanted to write over the course of the day, even put a couple notes in here to remind me, but still...

I'm tired. 

Up at 5:30, on the road at 7:30, our first home visit was at 8:30 with one more around 9:30 or so. 

Donna and Carol were both surprise visits and both went really well.

From there we went to Colonial Townpark, an open air shopping center, a really nice one, btw, and set up there for the day. We ended up starting at noon instead of 5:00 like the original thought. 

Around 1:00 I realized no one was dressed up so I thought I'd put the gear on since I hadn't worn it for a few days. Five hours later, I must admit, it felt good to get out of it. My clothes were saturated. It takes a lot out of you, even if the gear we wear isn't as thick or as heavy as normal gear, it's still warm. I kept myself hydrated and I did fine. Besides, there must have been two dozen or more survivors that I got to hug today. 

When people; survivors, their families or really anyone that comes to see us asks us what it's like on tour I've started telling them-

"I get to hug random women all over the country and my wife encourages it. Are you kidding me? This is the best job EVER!"

It gets a laugh of course, but there's an element of truth to it too. It's incredibly gratifying to hug a woman that is kicking cancer's butt. And the pirate absolutely encourages me to go out on tour. She's awesome. As much as I enjoy being on tour, I miss hanging out with her and I'll be glad to get home

Briefly now, two of my favorites from today. The first, a survivor that was a little bit older than me, Louise, came by with her family. I hugged her and she hugged back. Like she meant it too which I love. Later, after I got out of my gear and replaced my sunglasses with my real glasses, I saw Louise by Don as he was hugging her. Louise' daughter recognized me as I walked up and told Louise I needed another hug. She looked at me for a second and as we hugged I heard her say

"I know you, you're my first guy!"

I almost fell over, I was laughing so hard. 

The other memorable one was Ashton. 

I mean, how can you not love a ballerina?  She was so shy at first, but just as sweet as could be. She got to ride with Josh and Don in the parade we were in tonight. 

There's so much more I'd like to tell you but I've got to get to sleep. 

Up at 5:30 again for 7:00 departure and a 300 mile drive to our next stop. 

That's no typo. 

300

Sigh

G'nite

Pink Heals!

Peace