“Rest and be thankful.”
--William Wordsworth
Hi all,

So... as of yesterday... I finally finished Part 1 of the story I've been working on for ages.  Yay!  But that still means I didn't have much time to spend on this newsletter.  So we have a short lil Thanksgiving section (that could grow!) and then I decided to begin writing JABB's Angel Rule Book.  I'll explain shortly.

Happy Thanksgiving to those celebrating and to everyone... try not to get too stressed out by the holiday season!  ;-)

God bless,
Jenni
So I know this has been a tough couple of years for us.  It's hard being a fan of someone whose future work will only be seen when we, like John, go Home.  Still... I'm not sorry I'm a John Dye fan.  I remain grateful and as I prepare to celebrate Thanksgiving, I think there are a few things we can all be thankful for, serious and silly.  So this is interactive.  If, after you read this, you want to add on then just email me and I'll add lines as I get em.  That's why this isn't a top ten.  Who knows how many there'll be!

Reasons to Be Thankful You're a John Dye Fan

 1.  I don't know how many other fangirls have the ability to watch their favorite actor impersonate a turkey on Thanksgiving.  I'm betting it's few outside of John Dye fans.  But we can!  See ToD's "Thanks for the Memories" and enjoy!
 
2.  Dude looked awesome in sweats AND tuxes.  Not everyone can say that and not everyone can admire one who can pull both looks off.

3.  I know it's bittersweet but I also think it's pretty beautiful that the man we mourned is also someone whose work did so much to help with mourning.

4.  While I think it's safe to say that we all would have welcomed lots more John appearances, think of all the different roles we got to see him in.  Touched alone gave us John in a legal procedural, an education-themed drama, a political scandal thriller, and so much more. 

5.  He got my attention with Touched and left me with my first serious TV character crush, he won me over permanently with Mother, Mother which definitely cemented him as an actual person crush for me, and then Heart of the Beholder came along and I wanted to slug that guy (Manion... not John).  So... he had range and never left me bored!  I'm thankful for all those roles... even though I hope I meet many more Andrews and Jeffs in life than I do Manions.

6.  He told us God loves us... and we know God loves him.
So what are YOU thankful for?
_________________________________________________________________________________________________

Those of you who read the True Stories from Touched by an Angel book probably remember that there was a section devoted to the "angel rules." It listed off the rules that governed the series: angels had to respect free will, angels were not dead people, angels couldn't lie, etc.  Well, with things written for JABB, we've tried and I think succeeded with sticking with those rules.  However, there's a lot the rules didn't cover.  So I decided it was high time JABB had its own angel rule book to ensure consistency.  Cause I seriously dislike contradicting myself in stories.  I figured these five were a good start.

The below answers are not "official" in the sense that they're TBAA canon.  Rather, we've cobbled together inferences from TBAA episodes and then tried to extrapolate.  So these are the "official JABB" answers that are used in JABB stories but other TBAA fans may contest the conclusions.

1.  Do angels sleep?  Yes.  Tess voices a desire to hit the hay in "The Homecoming" and Monica can be seen sporting PJs in "Psalm 151" thus implying they do, in fact, sleep.  However, I'm sure we can all list off several scenes from episodes showing angels pulling all-nighters.  So... JABB's reading of this is that the angels, when in human form, do enjoy sleeping as we do.  It's restful, gives you energy, etc.  However, they don't *need* sleep in the same way we do (angels, being immortal, would never die for lack of sleep though we might) and may not always want it as we do.

If Andrew works an assignment from 6 AM until 10 PM then, were he human, the assumption would be he'd really better get to sleep after such a long day.  However, as Andrew may very well have gone Home during that period, that return would serve as an even more invigorating experience than sleep so he may not need or want sleep.  If an angel is earthbound for an extended period of time, they will take on the sleep needs of a human in the same condition.  So when Andrew was homeless, he probably needed to sleep 8 hours each night.  Of course, as with us, angels may find sleep difficult to come by even when they do need/want it.

2.  Can angels become ill or injured?  Yes they can be when in human form.  Episodes like "Remembering Me," "Amazing Grace," "Seek and Ye Shall Find" and others make that clear.  However, no condition would ever prove fatal because, again, angels are immortal.  It's also the official position of JABB that no angel would ever become ill in a way that used limited resources.  It would be ridiculous to have an angel all of a sudden need a kidney transplant when donated organs are in short supply and should go to people who will otherwise die without them.  As angels can donate blood and blood is much more widely available, the ban does not apply to transfusions although I don't foresee that being an issue.  Whether angels can be injured when in their own forms... jury's out on that one.  Monica seemed pained when she was protecting Jean in "The Spirit of Liberty Moon" but it was never explored further by TBAA.  My take was that it was emotionally draining to be the target of violence while in angel form though perhaps not exactly painful.  But I'm not sure.  So I guess JABB crosses that bridge if we ever come to it.

3.  Do angels age?  Not usually.  However, TBAA offered us a couple glimpses of angels who remained on earth for well over a decade: Kelly ("As It Is in Heaven") and Claire ("Jacob's Ladder").  Assumedly they aged otherwise those around them would grow quite suspicious.  So JABB's position is that angels do age if 1. They're earthbound following a devastating trauma a la Claire or 2.  Choose to age so as to have a greater role with a human or community a la Kelly.  Andrew has made it clear that he does intend to age because of reason #2 though that hasn't begun.

JABB has also taken the position that, as with us humans, angels may seem to age/grow younger due to mood.  I'm sure we all know that we look fantastic after a relaxing week long vacation and not so great after dealing with stressful situations for weeks on end.  It doesn't seem that unbelievable that Andrew would look a bit younger after a really great week amongst friends but also appear tired and worn after a wrenching assignment.

4.  How do the angels' powers play out with their human friends?  The same way they do for everyone.  While they may sometimes make jokes to the contrary, Andrew cannot use his powers on command to benefit his friends... unless God allows for it.  While we've seen the angels do fun things like paint a room in a matter of moments, Andrew does not go around Dyeland speed cleaning or redecorating.  That would just seem wrong.  The same applies to the far more serious matter of protection.  Andrew's friends are not somehow safer than the average person cause they have an angel as a buddy.  However, they're not less safe, either.  If Andrew would, on his own time, go out with a friend and trouble arose then the possibilities are these:

     1. Andrew could, the whole time remaining in human form, intervene and try to protect them.  Whether he would succeed or not is uncertain.

     2. God could allow Andrew to use powers (like crumbling a gun in his bare hand) to protect them in angelic form just as He has with some assignments ("Chutzpah").

     3. Andrew could suddenly go into AOD mode per God's will and then have to follow the same protocol respecting free will that he would with any assignment.

What's not possible is for Andrew to, of his own volition and without God's blessing, decide to use his angelic powers to protect his friends.  

5.  Do angels have money?  Yep, especially when the assignment requires it.  Speaking from experience, many businesses require employees to pay for work-related expenses then fill out forms for reimbursement.  Thus, said employee either needs cash or a credit card.  So likely the angels would have one or the other during assignments that required them to cover expenses otherwise their presence becomes an inconvenience to those they're trying to help!

Additionally, JABB's position is that they have a limited amount of spending money for use during their downtime.  This would seem to fit with Andrew buying Monica coffee in a couple episodes.  But I would stress *limited* amount.  Andrew's not gonna be gifting his friends with week long Disneyland vacations or anything.  He could probably buy them dinner on occasion, however.  Also, in cases where Andrew's human friends go on an assignment with him, those expenses are likely covered by whatever means Andrew's living expenses are (Bank of God?) as long as their presence has a legitimate purpose to the assignment.  For example, in "Safe" the girls' presences helped Andrew get an "in" with Erica, one of his assignments.  So the women served a purpose necessary to the case.  Ditto with the assignment in "We Trust to Thee."  Thus, the Bank of God likely covered those grocery bills.  If, however, Andrew was doing perfectly fine in, say, Chicago and Rose and JenniAnn decide they just have to be near by and hole up in a hotel in the city... they're on their own cause, really, they're just being clingy.

And I'm sure there will be later editions of this.  :-)

This newsletter is dedicated to John who left us with so much to be thankful for, so much kindness to share, so much faith in a God who loves, and so much hope for an end to sorrow.  Happy Thanksgiving, John.

JABB TOC

JABB 370
(The first photograph on this page is from Tour of Duty and owned by: New World Television.  The other two 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.)