"Don't walk behind me; I may not lead.
Don't walk in front of me; I may not follow.
Just walk beside me and be my friend."
~~Albert Camus


Hi all,

As some of you may know, the Pay It Forward in Memory of John Dye group has moved off Facebook and to our own community via our web site.  If you're interested, we'd love to have you join us!  I'm really looking forward to having a safer, less ad-heavy place to focus on John's legacy.

Unfortunately, the move involved quite an investment of time for Cindy and me so this newsletter is a bit rushed.  It's a shame cause March 17th marks Andrew's 13th anniversary of coming to Dyeland... a date that they all came to celebrate as the group's anniversary.  So I would have liked to have written a story.  When I knew that wasn't going to be possible, I considered writing some sort of joke list about the traditional 13th anniversary gift.  But turns out that's lace and I just wasn't sure where to go with Andrew and lace!  So maybe it's best to celebrate the occasion by letting a couple Dyelanders speak for themselves.  ;-)  Enjoy!

God bless,
Jenni

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From JenniAnn:

Happy 13th anniversary, ya'll!  On March 17th, 2000, Andrew and a group of us Dyelanders stumbled into each other in the Fields of Gold.  Without that meeting... gosh... well, I don't wanna think about that.  Thankfully, that meeting did happen and since then a bunch of you have joined us.  So Andrew and I thought that a fun way to mark the occasion would be to list off some traits we think are common to our lovely group.  Here goes...

You Might Be a Dyelander If...
by Andrew and JenniAnn
(items both thought up are in blue)

- You've ever used the phrase "What in the worlds?!?"  Stress on the plural there.  ;-)

- You've ever found yourself saying this: "I'm going Home for a little bit.  I mean capital H Home.  I'll see you at lowercase home tomorrow."


- You find yourself rolling your eyes during the Twilight movies because you know how it *really* is... 

- You were ever knighted by a Nebraskan.


- You know way more about Harry Potter than you ever really wanted to know.

- Even as an AOD, you know there's somewhere outside of Heaven where no one is afraid of you but, instead, they all love you.

- That list item right above made you tear up a little.

- The fact that the list item two above made someone tear up made you tear up.

- You have your very own Christmas ornament on the Dyeland tree that was designed/chosen just for you.  And you know who all the other ones signify and the stories behind them.

- You've celebrated a friend's 37th birthday five times and it's not because he's in denial.

- You know that "Spin the Bottle" is a karaoke game and nothing more.

- You still really don't understand how your cell phone is able to call, say, Manhattan from Serendipity but you've learned to live with the mystery.


- When you think of the city "DC," it brings notions of a certain handsome AOD, a lovely blue and lavender castle, and a super awesome yard maze before you think about a big White House or an oval office.

- You've ever been subjected to people rooting around in your history trying to determine your age OR you're doing the rooting.  I know who you are!  0;-)

- You're pretty sure you've tasted about every variety of red velvet food that exists.... but that doesn't mean you're sick of it.  Bring on the red velvet food!

- You've grown used to eating meals in which the main course involves the words "like substance."

- You've ever played Andrewopoly.  I still can't get over that...

- You don't take for granted that brick walls, the backs of closets, the trunks of trees, or the like are actually solid.


- You've learned... often with some difficulty... that open and honest communication is very, very important.  You know that if you were to forget that, someone will be there to remind you... often in pretty creative ways.

- You know the rules to Hairspy and also know that it's still not as desirable as winning Shotgun in the Jolly Green.

- You've ever used (or thought) the phrase "If Tess ain't happy, ain't nobody happy" and you have examples to support this premise.  Hi Tess!  I love you.  0:-)

- You can't remember what your hair looked like six months ago but, by golly, you can list every hair style Andrew's had since 1996... in order and in exhaustive detail.

- Oh and you can also give detailed reports on Andrew's facial hair.  Adam's, too.  And Henry's... although he
doesn't change it up as often.

- You've ever been filmed by Andrewcam 2000.

- You always keep ginger ale stocked... whether or not you like it.

- You know how to celebrate Halloween well... not as a propaganda-fest.


- You get sentimental over paper clips.

- You've spent countless hours trying to think of ways to make AODs blush cause it's just so darn cute when they do.

- You've gotten used to coming home to discover that your closet has been raided.  But you don't mind.  *Or* you regularly engage in closet raids.

- You know the Father keeps His promises... even when things seem impossible. 

- You're here to read what we're suggesting be made the motto of Dyeland: "God loves you and so do I."  And you know it's true!

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This newsletter is dedicated to all of the seventeen years that John Dye kept these half-Irish eyes o'mine smiling.  Those of us who have been able to enjoy his work weren't lucky.  It's more than that.  We're blessed.



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