Jenni's CD Recommendation

King Pellinore: Who is that, Arthur?
King Arthur: One of what we all are, Pelly. Less than a drop in the great blue sea.
But it seems some of the drops sparkle, Pelly. Some of them do sparkle!
~~ from the film Camelot

Click here to read the Dyeland 9th anniversary story!

Hi all,

Well, this is a very special JABB.  Today marks our 9th anniversary!  I can hardly believe it's been 9 years since the weekly TBAA AOL chat emptied out and only four of us remained and in that so-late-we-should-be-sleeping punchiness...  JABB was born!  Happy anniversary!

I wrestled with various idea of how to commemorate this very special occasion.  I'm currently working on a story detailing the Dyelanders' experience of the big day.  If you check back on the web version of this newsletter on Sunday you should find a link to that story.  Unfortunately, with my move fast approaching (i.e. tomorrow!), I wasn't able to give it due attention and complete it by today.  But I knew I wanted to send something on this day so I decided just to speak from my heart.  So this JABB isn't particularly funny.  Andrew won't be running around in his tool belt.  There will be no drool bucket jokes.  But I hope it touches ya'll.

When I first started preparing for this, I felt this anniversary was different than all other ones.  It's only been with in the last few days that I really zeroed in on why.  JABB has finished its ninth year now.  We have officially lasted longer than the show that inspired our very existence as a group.  I'm not saying that in a gloating way.  I know very well that nine years maintaining a TV show is much, much harder than nine years maintaining a web site and fan group.  I'm saying it because I think that just goes to show how powerful "Touched by an Angel's" legacy can be.  I also happen to think it shows how special a character Andrew was (and is). 

In TBAA's last years I'll admit my heart drifted away from it a bit.  I still watched it weekly.  I seldom missed an episode and hated it when I did.  But I didn't feel the same passion for it I once did.  Andrew was as adorable as ever but something was missing for me.  However, with "Feather on the Breath of God" somehow everything it had once been to me came flooding back.  This, of course, made the cancellation very hard to bear.  And it also made me pretty darn obsessed.  Perhaps crazily so (did I mention before that you might on occasion find me watching "The Journalist" whilst in one of my princess dresses?)  I laugh at some of my activities in the months that followed.  I started a lil scrapbook for Andrew with a section devoted to firsts (his first words, his first outfit, his first date, etc.)  More like a baby book than anything, I spose.  And then I kept adding to it.  Page by page until I suddenly found myself with two 1.5 inch binders bursting with pages of memories.  There were things related to TBAA but also to Dyeland.  And for some reason I felt compelled to put the following lines from an Irish song called "The Parting Glass" on the last page:

But since it falls unto my lot that I should go and you should not,
I'll gently rise and softly call, goodnight and joy be with you all.

I've written a lot about the gifts TBAA (and especially Andrew) left me with.  Granted, I've also done my share of complaining about some not so nice feelings it left me with.  I'm perhaps not the best person to have a sensible discussion of the finale episode with, for example.  But in the end I think the greatest gift really is joy.  And when Andrew and Monica and Tess and Adam and Gloria and all the rest left our living rooms for the last time, they left that joy with us all.  Of course I mean the message of "God loves you," the most joyous message in the world.  But I also mean something else: the joy of friends.

We may not be able to chug mocha lattes together or go for drives in uber-cool red caddies together but I do believe that many of us in this group have friendships as real as those the angels shared.  And, yes, we've had our share of people who just seemed to disappear into the proverbial field.  But I know there are many people in this group who have been friends for a good long time now.  Then there are our newer members, many of whom don't seem to be new at all because their kindness, candidness, and willingness to get involved have made me feel like they must have been there with me from Night One.  The YahooGroup, especially, continues to inspire, amuse, and comfort me.  They're a truly great group of people that I feel honored to know!  And I'm thankful to TBAA for bringing us all together there.  And I'm thankful to all of you for sticking around.

So in that spirit, I'd like to introduce a challenge.  When JABB started our newsletters were often different lists thrown together.  Top tens or "You know you're an Androoler if..." or lists of beloved qualities John Dye possessed.  Well, this is *our* JABB about *our* anniversary.  So I want to make some lists about us.  I know some of our members are struggling with some individuals seemingly not giving them the unconditional support and respect they deserve.  That's a great shame because you are all beautiful people created by God.  And as we heard time and again and yet never tired of hearing: God loves you!  God did an awesome job creating you and that, beyond TBAA's legacy, should be what we celebrate today!  I think it'd be a great thing if each of us could sit down and write a list of 9 things we love about ourselves.  Nine because that's the anniversary we're marking but you can always add extras!  So, please, write the list.  If you want to share it, I'll be happy to look at it.  Heck, I'll even put it on this web page for all the world to see (just be sure to keep identifying information to an absolute minimum in that case for safety reasons)!  But regardless of whether you choose to share your list or not, I really do hope you try this out. 

Enjoy your anniversary and write that list!

God bless,
Jenni

JABB 225
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(Photo Credits: The photographs used on this page are from "Touched by an Angel" and owned by CBS Productions, Caroline Productions, and Moon Water Productions.  They are not being used to seek profit.)