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Thank you to everyone who attended the celebration. It was a beautiful day filled with memories of OJ, great music, and lots of warm fuzzies!
We have a CD of photos from the OJ weekend as well as a DVD video of the ceremony available for those who contribute $100 or more to the Enchanted Hills OJ fund.
I am so grateful to everyone. This was such a great team effort. I didn't get a chance to acknowledge Rob Reis who brought his professional sound system at the last minute and produced the musicians on the fly. I was assuming I would be doing that and the fact that I didn't was a huge relief not to mention being able to have a sound system that reflected the quality of live music being played. Mike
I was so high coming home from the memorial, that I just had to tell you. It was such a wonderful day on so many levels.
As I lay in bed that night I imagined what OJ would have been thinking about the day. I think she would, first of all be very proud of her family for pulling together an event that honored her with such a moving and special tribute. She would have gotten such a charge at seeing all these 50+ year old camp counselors reconnect as if no time had passed. She would have joined in the laughter and the memories shared with great enthusiasm. She probably would have had a few stories of her own! She would have insisted that the foods in the lunch be announced with a Spanish pronunciation, and she would have loved the music most of all.
There were some profoundly special moments for me: sitting by the lake and letting the wash of beauty, remembrance and emotion flow over me; feeling the little catch around the heart when another old friend was recognized and greeted with open arms; to see photos of OJ from her youth and learning how incredibly beautiful she was; singing the Water is Wide with Rick undid me.
Of course, having Stevie there was definitely the icing on the cake. It was the only time in my life when I felt that I was absolutely in the presence of musical genius. He was so warm and personable and added such a lot to the celebration. What a day!
You should be very proud of the celebration you created. Sometimes when you are working hard, it is difficult to enjoy the result, but you celebrated your mom's life in a way I think any of us would be lucky to experience. I'm sure, sitting on that cloud with Sola, she is grinning from ear to ear.
Thanks for letting me be a part of it.
Love, Liz
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