As I’m getting closer to my show in New Orleans. I’m getting that excited, nervous energy, overwhelmingly happy feeling that you can’t help but have around anything TSwift. I’m so happy that I have you, Tay, to help me feel like this. It helps to have things to keep me busy when I’m having bad days. You do that for me.
I have a debilitating chronic illness, Ankylosing Spondylitis, that keeps me from being an active person like I used to be. I had my dream job at my dream place and had to let it all go 5 years ago. Going from being a busy mom of three, full time teacher and librarian, Girl Scout leader, who loved driving around with my music way up and the sunroof open to being stuck in bed, using a walker, being driven everywhere, with terrible brain fog, so bad that I can barely read the books I loved so dearly, and an absentee mom, missing so many of my babies’ events because of my pain. You’ve walked this with me.
Taylor, you and your music have helped to ground me on days that I was very anxious, soothe me when I worried about how my children’s lives have been impacted by my disease, cheered me up when I didn’t want to get out of bed, and wallowed with me on days when I just couldn’t. You’ve always been by my side.
Besides the music, the memories I have of going to your shows with my two daughters will always be enormously special. All the way back to Speak Now when we surprised our then 2nd grader with tickets at dinner, just 2 hours before the show, or making our trip to Dallas for RED our FIRST family vacay that wasn’t a hurricane “evacu-cation”, and then to 1989 at LSU, when we had the BEST DAY, yet as we walked to the car that night we got our first red flags that I wasn’t going to be able to walk unassisted anymore. You’ve been there for it all.
So, today I had one of my bimonthly infusion treatments and they usually tire me out but I decided I wouldn’t let it. I wanted to do something creative and honor the memories so I tackled it tonight by drawing this in my #bujo.
I threw a few song clues in there, just fun overall, and my lettering is getting there. One day I’ll tackle watercolors. Hope you enjoy it. Can’t wait to make more memories with you in 31 days @taylorswift