It's been quite a week...

Ramblings from a sleep deprived individual waiting to hit the road at 5:15 a.m. to head back to Wake Forest Baptist Hospital for my second in a series of three EEGs. One already down. One later today at 7:30 a.m. with the last to be performed on July 17th.

Am I loving, it? No.

But, it beats the daylights out of being in the Epilepsy Monitoring Unit like I was last year. I'm so utterly thankful that my new doctor saw the need for another method to be used to capture the type of data required to either back up my original diagnosis of left mid temporal Epilepsy. Or, rule it out. I refuse to be anything but hopeful.

I've lots of photos I could share of places I've been this week. But I'm struggling, literally, with where to start. There's been much going on of late. Day trips I've made this week alone.

What story should I tell? Let's see...

How about the Jon Schmidt concert my husband and I attended in Charlotte on Saturday night? It was all I wanted for my birthday.

In a word, the concert was amazing! For my readers who may not know of Jon... he's a brilliant pianist. He has the potential to be another George Winston, perhaps even better! I'll share a youtube of his before I sign off on this entry.

As for my story about him, one of my closest friends shared a youtube of his on FaceBook I'll be sharing below. Every time I play it, it brings me to tears. I'm not exactly sure as to all of the reasons for such reactions, but there's just something about the combo that gets to me. It's an unlikely pairing... another uncommon partnership as I like to call them. And Jon's daughter's name is Sarah, which is my first name.

His performance was simply unreal. Jon has an amazing God given talent. He's extremely down to earth, funny and humble. Patient, too, as there were sound problems initially. He was kind and found other ways to entertain us while we waited for the sound tech to workout the bugs. He also took time to chat with my husband and I after the show. I had a vibe during the show and there was no way I could walk out of the theatre without asking him about it.

A super short version of the story, Jon's sister, Rose Anne, passed away when he was 19. She was only 30 years old at the time and was a very accomplished pianist. She had Epilepsy and lost her life to a seizure. Jon wrote his song "Tribute" in her honor to play at her funeral. He shared that he plays it at every concert he gives and tells about her. He doesn't speak of her sorrowfully. In essence he idolized her and he looked up to her... he admired her. He spoke of what a wonderful sister she was and how she was a terrific mom. He even shared that he wanted to marry someone just like her and he did. However, during the concert he never mentioned the cause of her death, but I knew the moment he began talking about Rose Anne. Seriously, something just came over me. I just knew.

We talked with Jon a good 20 minutes after the show and I felt compelled to ask him about her and what happened. He was so kind to me and he willingly shared. I wasn't at all surprised to hear what he told me. Not one bit. It made me a little sad, at the same time, I was awed by Jon's warm and candid manner. And the love I could see that he has for his sister. His tribute to her couldn't be more lovely. I may share a youtube of it another time.

To me, I see the few moments we spent with Jon as a divine encounter. I'm very thankful to my special friend for sharing that youtube on FaceBook.

First will be a little photo of me with Jon below. Oh how I wish I'd straightened my cross first!

Then, the lovely youtube will follow.

Tate Hall in the Overcash Building at CPCC Charlotte

And here's the youtube... I've shared it with some of my readers on FaceBook and individually. There are no words to describe how this song touches me. It's not the lyrics... it's the shear beauty of the music and Jon's creativity. It's pure brilliance! Putting the piano and the cello together in such a unique song combo. Incredible!

Special thanks also to Dennis D. for putting the show together and networking about the venue change, the tickets, directions to the theatre... etc. He did an impeccable job. And, he also plays a nice piano!

I'm telling you what... you should check to see if Jon will be performing in your area, because, if he is you need to go see him. Once Love Story is released, his popularity is going to GROW... the sky is the limit for him!

Jon Schmidt dot com

!! Happy Fourth of July to all of my readers and Happy Birthday to my niece !!