Forgiveness

To forgive - to let things go, to harbor no resentment, to hold no bitterness, to be willing to heal the past and start all over again – these are all easier said than done. We maintain a grudge towards somebody because it is difficult for us to forgive. We replay the event, what one said, what one did to fan our flame of hatred alive. However, once we find it in our heart to forgive, we feel a sense of relief as though we emptied the sack of rocks we have been carrying on our backs.

          To a child, asking for forgiveness comes easy. Forgiving us for our faults even comes easier. Let me tell the story of forgiveness shown by a five year old. Vanessa, 5 years old, was disturbing the lesson and encouraged her classmates not to listen to me while I was conducting a group activity prior to recess. Vanessa and I had enjoyed a good working relationship. I saw her behavior as doubly hurtful because not only was she not listening, she also tried to convince others to do the same. I stopped the lesson and firmly told her that I did not like what she was doing. I asked her, “How would you feel if I told your friends not to listen to you while you are talking to them?”

She was silent. I could see from her face that she got the message. She knew that she displeased her teacher. I continued the group activity then led the group to the playground for their outdoor play period. Vanessa came to me with three found things in her hands: a rock, a bent plastic nail and two broken pieces of a seashell. She gave them to me one by one. She showed how the two pieces of seashell can be held together to form the original whole shell. She did not say a word. I accepted her gifts and hugged her. That was enough for her. With a smile she skipped to the swing and played with her classmates.

         Although  Vanessa  picked these things off the ground with no special thought as to their significance or symbolism, I was touched by her peace offering. To take action soon after the event meant that she really cared. She did not want bad blood between us to linger on after sundown. I did not expect her to do anything to patch up things, but she felt it was necessary to do something. She did something concrete. Her wordless apology said more than if she merely said, “I’m sorry.”

               I laid the objects on my desk. When the children left for the day I looked at them and somehow found the objects held a deeper significance for me. Together, the objects made this statement: “Although my actions bent our relationship out of shape (the bent plastic nail), it can be put back together (two broken pieces of a seashell) because our relationship stands firm and solid as a rock (rock).”

               Indeed, the nail can be straightened out and the shell pieces can be glued back together to make a whole. The rock stands firm undisturbed. If a child can forgive us as she asks forgiveness, so can we.   I learned a few lessons from this incident:

1. It is more important to restore our positive relationship than to harbor ill feelings due to a misunder-standing or a misheard word or misinterpreted action or our need to be right. Our friendship or our relationship as family members is more important than maintaining a strained relationship.

2. What caused the misunderstanding only took a minute, to rebuild the relationship will take much longer.

3. What caused the strained relationship was an unfortunate event. It takes humility to acknowledge that we played a role in it although we feel like blaming the other party for everything.

4. It takes courage to take action to make things whole again. It takes more energy to maintain bitterness than to let go of the memory of past events. Which way would you like to go?

5. Sometimes words are hard to come by to say “I’m sorry” so bringing flowers as token of our apology comes in handy.

6. With a contrite heart, we resolve not to do the same faulty action again.

7. Once things are restored to the state before the misunderstanding, energy that has been spent in anger, hatred, blaming can now be utilized for helping others and caring for the environment. Channels for receiving and sharing blessings formerly blocked will be opened. Once again the river of peace flows where once stood a stagnant pond.

          Forgive  your enemies, forgive others, forgive yourself. “Vengeance is mine, saith the Lord.” Trust your cares to God’s wheel of justice because God’s wheel is slow but sure. Perfect justice rules the world.

The A B C's of Life 2

The ABC’s of Life

A             accept    

I accept who I am and I am happy to be just as I am. I am not my brother or my sister, I am me and this is how it’s going to be.  I also accept my responsibility and perform it willingly. I  accept everyone  who comes on my path as fellow travelers in this life’s journey.  I am content with who you are as I am content with who I am.

B            balance            

Balance the opposing factors of your life: balance work with play; activity with rest and sleep; new learning with routine activity; being with others and being alone; listening and speaking; reading and writing; working indoors and working outdoors.  Like a two-pan scale, life constantly swings from one side of the scale to the other.  We constantly shift to restore balance for life does not stand still.

C            concentrate            

When sunlight is focused on a magnifying glass its rays can burn a piece of paper.  Similarly, with our mind focused on what we are doing, we can accomplish our work. Children sing this rhyme -   “Work while you work, play while you play, that is the way to be happy and gay.” When we are mindful of everything that we do, every act is a prayer and a hymn to the universe.

D            determined         

We keep our eye on the prize, never lose sight of our goal.  If we know where we are going, we will get there.  We face in the direction of the goal, and every step we take brings us closer to it. Our strong determination sustains us with extra strength to meet challenges on the way and brings a feeling of  certainty of getting there.                  

       

E            enjoy                        

Take time to smell the flowers, wait for the sunrise in the morning and the sunset at dusk.  Rejoice in the landmark achievements of a child – the first walk, first word, writing and reading explosion.  Enjoy each task and take time to have fun.

F            forgive           

Forgive others for they know not what they do.  Forgive ourselves for doing what we should not have done or for failing to do what we should have done.  We learn from our mistakes and move on.                                              

G            give                        

We benefit as we share. The flower gives its fragrance and beauty to attract insects to sip its nectar.  The insect cross - pollinates as it moves from flower to flower thus continuing the life of the plant.        

                                         

H            hear                        

We have two ears and one mouth so we can listen twice as much as we speak.  We hear the cry from pain, laughter from joy,  loving words spoken and even hear the words unspoken, the sound of silence. It is knowing that we have been truly listened to which gives us a sense of peace and heals our mind and soul.                            

                     .                                   

I            imagine            

How would it look if the problem were solved?  Imagine your ideal world – a  world without war,  sickness, hunger, poverty, homelessness, man’s cruelty to fellow human beings and animals.  We start with a dream and soon the dream becomes a reality.  Dream big, big things happen when we think big.

J            judge                         

Judge fairly, temper judgment with mercy and if possible refrain from making judgments.  Suspend making judgments until the mind has obtained and evaluated the facts and the heart felt with compassion on the issue at hand. Judgment made without intelligence has no substance, judgment made without feelings is insensitive.

K            know                        

All that we seek to know already lies within our hearts.  No one can really impart knowledge to another.  We can only lead the student to ask the question that one can then answer and make that learning his/her own.  We can understand the laws of the universe because we are part of the universe.  We are a microcosm as the universe is the macrocosm. All we need to do is knock and the door opens its storehouse of knowledge and wisdom to those who are ready and willing to learn.            

           

L            love                        

The laws of the universe can be summed up in two commandments:    Love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, mind, soul and strength.  That is the first commandment.  The second is to love your neighbor as yourself. We have only learned to love ourselves above all else. That is selfishness.  True love is self-sacrifice for the sake of the beloved as the pelican plucks its feathers to line its nest to make a  comfortable, warm home for the birdie.

M            marvel                        

The world is a wonderful place and we need to marvel at the beauty that surrounds us – the sky, the ocean, the trees.                        

N            nurture            

We need to nurture others as we need to be nurtured. We need to be nurtured physically (food, water, warmth), emotionally (we need to love and to be loved), intellectually (to inquire, to seek, to understand),  socially (to belong) and spiritually (faith, hope, charity).

O            organize            

We spend more time looking for something any time we need something than if we took the time in the first place to organize, catalog, label and index or list the files organized.  We find we have more time if we plan and prioritize our activities and do first things first instead of backtracking our steps. Order creates beauty and beauty inspires us to noble actions.

P            protect            

Our vital organs are protected by bones – the brain is encased in a skull, the heart and lungs are protected by the ribs. Birds and mammals protect their young.  The earth has an ozone  layer in our atmosphere to protect us from the damaging effects of the sun’s radiation.  We need to protect our bodies, our children and our earth from harmful substances to promote healthy bodies, healthy children and healthy planet.

Q            quell                       

Quell anger. It leads to hurting others.  Rather find ways to resolve conflicts amicably in a win-win situation and establish peace.  Quell jealousy.  It makes enemies out of friends.  Quieten your mind and allow the voice of conscience from within to be heard.

R            respect            

When we respect someone we hold him/her in high esteem.  With respect comes courtesy, consideration and kind regard.

S            speak                        

There are three questions to ask ourselves before we speak: Is it true?  Is it kind?  Is it helpful? Unless all three questions are answered in the affirmative, we keep our mouth shut.  A child may be spoiled or slow, that is true.  Calling a child spoiled, is that kind? Is it helpful? I don’t think so.  I would remain silent on this issue but would rather talk to the mother to build a working relationship and get to know more about the child.

T            teach                        

Montessori said, “Teach teaching, not correcting.” Kabbalah’s  advice to parents is -  “Be a teacher, not a preacher.” The art of  teaching is to discover what makes a student tick, what motivates a student to learn and how can a teacher reach a student to make the lesson meaningful.

U            understand            

We teach for understanding, not senseless memorization. We teach the few fundamental principles of a subject matter so the student can find applications of the principle into our everyday life. Understanding  of one principle leads to the understanding of another.  Living accordingly from understanding the laws of the universe leads to joy and fulfillment.

V            value                        

We can tell the kind of person one is by what he/she values.  “Where your heart is that’s where your treasure is.” What do we value?  Do we value friendship more or winning an argument?  Do we value material things more at the expense of going into debt or do we value financial security and delaying  making purchases until we have the money?  What we end up doing is guided by our value system.

                                                

W            watch                        

Things do not just happen all of a sudden.  Events develop over  a time period and signals could be seen at each stage of  development.  It is when we watch with vigilance that we see the signs and take the necessary action. It is when we do not watch that we come unprepared for the event and recognize it  as something that happened all of a sudden.  It is incumbent for  us to be prepared at all times for we know not the day nor the hour….                 

      

X            extra                        

Walk the extra mile to help somebody. Put a little more effort than the minimum required.  Give an extra handful of nuts to add to someone’s share.  These extra little gifts turn out to be investment yielding huge dividends in the future.

                                               

Y            yield                        

Yield to others in things that do not matter (what color dinner napkin to buy).  We need not argue about every little thing.  Save the big discussion for the really important matters that  affect our life (going to college).  Frequently bickering about every trivial thing lessens our sensitivity to listen to each other and we fail to listen just when we really need to.                

                    

Z            zest                       

Laugh and the world laughs with you.  Perform your tasks with zest and the task becomes easy.  

Small Town 4th of July Celebrations

            When we first moved to  Glencoe, I wanted to be a part of the town’s 4th of July parade.  I did not know how since we had no social connection to the town at that time.  We were not  part of any organization since we worked in the city of Chicago and all our affiliations were with the city.  Aside from working at a Montessori school, my son Mark, 6, and I spent considerable time commuting to and from the city which left us no time to socialize in our new town.

            Carlos, our second son was born in March of 1975.  He was four months old by the 4^th of July.  We dressed him up in his all- white- terry -cloth sleeper with red, white and blue trim on the sleeves and around the neck.  We decorated his buggy with a few streamers.  Armed with a couple of milk bottles and some diapers, we pushed our entry for the parade to the starting point.  Carlos slept through the whole time. Mark was proud pushing his baby brother in the buggy and I was happy that we have made our entry into the new community.  We lined up with the last section where parents marched while their pre-schoolers rode their tricycles.

            At the end of the parade, we assembled where the floats lined up for judging.  Although we did not list ourselves as a float, people peeked at the buggy passenger and smiled saying, “He is so precious.”  Carlos slept through the whole thing. 

            Three years later, I opened my own Montessori School and called it Glencoe Montessori School. I opened its doors in May and thought that participating at the parade would be a good marketing activity.  I ordered school T-shirts with the logo for children and adults.  I invited friends from Chicago to come with their children for a barbeque and then march at the parade.  Twenty families showed up.

            My mother designed our float, my father put the different structures in place, the rest of us did the detailed work of papering the float. On the top of our Oldsmobile station wagon, we had a Raggedy Ann doll dressed as a teacher sitting on a plastic chair facing two smaller dolls dressed in Glencoe Montessori T-shirts also sitting on chairs.

            The body of the car was draped with paper bird feathers with the two wings along the sides and the head and front of the white bird on the hood.  We marched behind our float.  Cheers from the crowd swelled as we passed.  We had our informal introduction to the community through the parade and we considered our mission accomplished. After the parade, we saved the “bird” for future need. 

            We continued the tradition of participating in the parade.  The following year, a parent lent us his blazer to be used as our float.  Since the theme was red, white, and blue, we simply decorated the blazer with streamers, flags and bows of the tricolor.  That was a relatively easy preparation.

            After housing our school at a rented space in West School for two years, we moved to North School.  The theme for the parade was “your neighborhood.”  We thought our neighborhood was “honeybees and evergreen trees” (phrase is part of a barbershop song) since there was an abundant growth of evergreen trees and honeybees were around.  At this point, the school had purchased a van so we could take the children to the YMCA for swimming lessons. We used the van for our float.  Artificial Christmas trees were clustered on the top and the body was decked up with green textured tissue paper interspersed with yellows, oranges and reds to represent flowers.  Honeybees made from empty yellow egg cartons were scattered among the flowers.  The float looked sweet and lovely.  We won honorable mention or the most original – any way we won something.

            At the next summer Olympics, the theme was “winning the gold.” I chose our float theme to say “Win the ultimate gold medal, peace through education.”  The first part of the statement was spelled out with blue cut-out letters on one side of the van, the second part  on the other side. The plan was to insert blue tissue paper into each hole of the chicken wire as background for the white dove to fly above the sky.  The dove will be wearing a gold medal.  As we feverishly tried to cover the big van with tissue paper, I thought of retrieving our original dove from our first float.  Presto, that did it, it covered all the surface we intended to cover and the dove of peace was in place above the sky.  We won first prize with this float.

            In honor of Glencoe’s 150^th anniversary as a village,  this historical milestone was chosen as the theme.  I thought our float would say, “Glencoe, a town for all seasons.”  We built four cardboard  houses, one for each season, and painted each one to correspond to the color of a season: white for winter, green for summer, orange for fall and pink for spring. We also attached colored leaves and flowers to correspond with each season.  These four houses were placed on top of the van. To streamline the process of covering the body of the van, we draped chicken wire around the van and instead of inserting tissue paper, we inserted twigs of oak trees with leaves which covers a big surface in less time.  The plan worked perfectly and the float really looked enchanting.  We drove the van to the starting point and parked at our designated spot.  When the parade started, our van would not start.  The other participants had to go ahead of us.  When everyone had marched ahead of us, I made the decision of pushing the van and we still can parade through the town.  We did and no one actually knew that the van was being pushed until they see the back of the van with people pushing it.  Since we had waved off our entry to the parade earlier, they did not consider our participation as valid even though we pushed the van through the parade route.  Oh well, such is life.

        All  this frantic  activity of building a float and marching at the parade ended once I sold the school and moved to Miami.  Now I am back watching the parade from the sidelines.  I see no floats, no contests for the best float or the group with the biggest number of participants.  I see people walking with their dogs, children riding their tricycles, people riding their convertibles, marchers bearing banners to identify their group – these are the entries to the town parade.

         I guess things change. Perhaps what kept the spirit alive was one man, Stan Shuman, the self-appointed committee chair who solicited contributions to support the patriotic days events and infused his enthusiasm into the parade.  Stan died a few years back and perhaps no one really had the same degree of dedication to keep the spirit alive.  Perhaps the crowd has grown apathetic to the small town celebration. As I wandered through the arts and crafts exhibits, I noticed that there were fewer vendors.  There was no free lemonade or ice cream or popcorn. There was no sound system to announce the winners since there was no contest.

         I took myself to Starbucks and  had my chai tea soy latte grande while  I read the book published by the Glencoe Historical Society given out during the parade. Near the front cover, I saw pictures of past 4^th of July celebrations.  These were huge.  I wonder whether we will see again floats, neighborhood participations, large crowds lining up along the sidewalk.  In a small town such as Glencoe, anything can happen.  Any one person with a heart big enough to care to get this town moving as it did before can awaken the spirit once more.  The question is, “Who will be the next Stan Shuman?”

          Happy 4^th of  July to everyone.  Keep your spirits up and God bless America and the whole world.

My Papa, a Renaissance Man

It is a rare privilege to have  warm, caring and talented parents.  There was nothing they would not do to help you become  the best that you can be.

            My father, who I call Papa, was known to friends, relatives and the general public as “Yowing.”  Riding through town in his jeep, waves of spontaneous cheers from children and grown up’s could be heard saying “Yowing.”  The surprising thing about this is that even after 17 years of absence from the native land while he resided in America, the greetings from children were just as fresh as before.  These children could not have been born when we left the country.

            A natural born statesman, he had a slogan printed across his campaign picture which said, “Ang matuod nga ulipon sa lungsod.”  (The true servant of the town.) He was elected congressman of the first district of Bohol in 1946.  He was re-elected in 1950.  He served his people well.  Streams of people came to the house for private audiences  seeking help through my father.  The same was true in Manila where people lined up to see my father at his office.

            He was a great orator.  When he speaks during the ‘Seven Last Words’ service at church, he builds up the passion of Christ to a climactic height effectively moving people to tears.  He enhances his speech with sound effects produced with the simple technological advances of the time.  He uses the same skill in winning votes for his candidacy.

            He was an operatic singer, a tenor, an actor, a musician playing the guitar, banjo and banduria. A well-read person, he can explain concepts using sharp analogies to tie down the abstract to something concrete.  He was an excellent teacher, injecting humor and brief lessons on human understanding in his classes.

            I wanted to study ballet and that could only be done in Manila.  We were then residing in Bohol and vacationed in Manila in the summer.  As we went from one studio to another to register, my father received one rejection after another.  He did not give up, he knew the reason for the rejection.  We would be tying up a spot only for the summer which would otherwise have been filled by a year round student. With that knowledge, my father computed the hours for a year round student taking two or three times a week lesson.  He then asked my older sister, Nany, to take group lessons three times a week, my brother and I would take three group lessons a week  and two private lessons a week.  With the combined hours we got in.

           I went to the same college where Papa was teaching.  I successfully passed Trigonometry during the first semester.  When summer came, he asked me to attend his class for review and mastery.  I went.  Indeed it was a fresh approach and I learned trigonometry anew plus the joy of teaching.  As a bonus we enjoyed a piece of cake and a cold barley drink together during the break.  In return for this treat, I graded his students’ quizzes.  I also joined my father’s field trips to the planetarium as part of his astronomy class.

            Without my knowledge, Papa had my first year college quizzes and other test papers book bound.  It looked so professional. (I later learned that Dr. Maria Montessori’s father did the same thing to his daughter’s news clippings.)

        When faced with difficulty in some chemistry subjects,  he  bought  the textbooks from Adamson University (a different perspective might help) and he somehow found a set of problems solved in quantitative and physical chemistry.  His advice was for me to solve every problem in the book, not just the one assigned.  He showed me some memory aids using the Roth memory course.   To this day, I continually make little outlandish connections to make new learning stick.

            At first he was disappointed that I switched from chemistry to education but later on acknowledged that education is my path to do the work of the master.  He likewise supported me in this endeavor.

            Papa was a healer.  He first healed through magnetic healing then augmented this task with homeopathy and radionics.  People from far and near traveled to see him and were cured.

            Papa was a writer. He wrote declamatory pieces for me and my sister.  He was also a composer and with Regino Dano, a lifetime friend, he composed Ave Maria, Romance and other pieces.  On his 37th birthday, he wrote a poetic prose about his romance with my mother entitled, “A Butterfly to a Wild Rose.”  Upon his death at the age of 74, I wrote a sequel, “Butterfly, Good-bye.”  My mother made a fabric picture with a butterfly figure bearing my father’s photo and a large rose, bearing my mother’s photo.  Three little rose buds completed the scene with each of our pictures – Nany, Vril and mine.

            A renaissance man, a loving father, a faithful husband, a leader, a role model, a strong believer in the Divine Plan -  Oh my Papa, to me you are so wonderful.  Thank you for giving me the vehicle for this life on earth and for pointing me in the path of righteousness. 

              Happy Father’s Day, wherever you are!

His mode of campaigning

Music Begins at Home

Music Begins at Home

    What a stirring experience to wake up at dawn with the band playing musical selections as it paraded through town heralding the beginning of the town’s fiesta.  The band stopped at my grandmother’s house for breakfast. That was the seed of my love for music.

      The seed was watered when I borrowed  my  godmother’s  toy piano with the black keys painted.  While tending my grandmother’s sari-sari store, I randomly struck the white keys.  To my surprise, I found that I could string a phrase of a melody.  I later found that if I could remember how I did it I could play a song.  Trial and error followed until I put together the popular music at that time, “Curacha.”  I could translate melodies from my memory on to the piano keys almost instantaneously with less trial and error.

         The next breakthrough came when I realized that the melody played by the right hand needs chord accompaniment played by the left hand. Coming home after seeing a movie, I tried to play on a real piano this time, the song “Maria Elena” played as intermission music before the next show comes on.  I picked out the melody immediately and tried two chords to match the melody.  Some things did not sound right.  My father came to the rescue.  My father does not play the piano, he plays the guitar, banjo and banduria however. He  whistled the notes that make up a given chord note by note, I picked them out on the keyboard and figured out the chord.  My father and I plotted out the remaining chords.  From then on I could play music “by ear” thanks to Maria Elena. 

       By third grade, I was  taught how to read notes at school.  I took piano lessons. Playing piano duet with my instructor was built-in into the instruction.  That was a special hit with me.  Since I wanted to play piano duet in my home town with friends who did not play piano, I taught them the “pupil” part while I figured out how the “teacher” part was played.  A series of piano duets by ear followed that I had arranged myself from popular songs.  This mode of playing duets continued with playing with my sister until the last year of her life.

         Since I could read notes, I rummaged through the collection of vocal pieces with piano accompaniment and tried to sight read them.  When I played some pieces good enough to be recognizable, I would hear my father whistle along or sing along from upstairs. That was another landmark.  This began the period of playing the piano while my father played the banjo or banduria.  Some of our favorites included “Who’s Sorry Now,” “Stumbling,” “Black and White,” Philippine folk songs such as “Bahay Kubo.”

        I learned how to sing, “Sa Daplin sa Baybayon,” translated as “By the Seashore.” I sang solo accompanied by my father with the guitar.  I sang duet with my younger brother where I sang most of each line and he filled in the last word.  That song was “Sa Pagtakas sa Hapon” translated as “When the Japanese attacked.” These songs were recorded by the latest technology at that time. A plastic disc was the recording medium, a groove was cut by the needle during the recording.  At the end of the recording, my father collected the silver-gray hair-like fiber cut from the plastic disc.

        Music,  music everywhere – growing up listening, singing, playing, dancing to the music became a life style. Each phase entered opened a new type of music and broadened musical literature for each musical genre.  Let me try to summarize the type of activity, type of music involved and a particular favorite.

Activity	Musical Type	Favorite piece
High School Glee Club	3-part, 4-part choral music	In Old Madrid Tea for Two
Listening	Papa’s compositions with Regino Dano	Ave Maria 1 Ave Maria 2 Romance
Accompanying	Duet by my father and sister	Nena Gilangkat Mo
Accompanying	Solo by my sister	One Kiss Ako’y Kampupot Matud Nila
Leading college classmates in a chorus	3-part medley	Planting Rice/Joy to the World
Accompanying, college chorus	Philippine song	Sampaguita
Teaching, singing	Children’s song	Under the Sun by Frank Leto
Folk dancing	International	Never on Sunday – Greek dance Pata-Pata -   African
Women’s  barbershop chorus	Barbershop	In Old Shanty Town Toot  Toot  Tootsie Goodbye
Church Choir	Anthems,  hymns, oratorio	Seven Last Words by Dubois, Handel’s Messiah
Latin dancing	Rumba, bolero, chacha, salsa, samba	Adios
Ballroom dancing	Fox trot, waltz, tango	Orange-colored Sky
Swing, Jive	Rhythm	Sweet Home, Chicago
Two-Step Dancing	Country Western	I’m on the Road Again
Listening	Mark Tulloss’  composition	Song dedicated to the passing of Vril Clarin and Rev. Lawrence Smith
Listening, Playing	Carlos Tulloss’ composition	Mother’s Day with Flute obligato
Hawaiian Wedding	Hawaiian	Over the Rainbow

         As the song goes –         

                                    “All things shall perish under the sun.

                                      Music alone shall live

                                      Music alone shall live

                                      Music alone shall live

                                      Never shall die.”

     Music  remains  the  mainstay for family get-togethers.  With Papa, Mama, my sister Nany and my brother Vril no longer with us on this physical plane, others have taken their places to keep the music going.  Neil Bonje plays the guitar, Mark and Carlos Tulloss with the bass, I play the keyboard, Avril Clarin-Taylor as the lead vocalist, Allison Philpott-Tulloss with the flute, Tio Gabriel and Tia Nen Bonje as standard vocalists.  It won’t be long the younger group will join the ensemble:  Andrew Bonje, Alex and Melanie Kuhlmann.  Tying the whole group together and recording the memorable event will be James Tulloss and Kirsten Kuhlmann. If we could fly Allison’s mother, Cathi, we add another vocalist and pianist. So many members of the clan scattered all over the U.S.A. can add to the ensemble.  Then we’ll be rocking and rolling as you’ve never heard before this side of heaven.

         The family that plays music together stays together.