JABB 438- Farewell (sorta) to Serendipity and Ask a JABB Co-Founder

“There is only one of you in all time, this expression is unique.
And if you block it, it will never exist through any other medium and it will be lost.”
~~Martha Graham

Hi all,

Before I get to the newsletter proper, I have a couple plugs. Kim and I have each written new stories. Kim's story, "Glad Tidings," is actually in-progress but due to its events being alluded to in my story, "Shadowlands," she offered to post the first part which leaves off right before my story begins. I would suggest reading "Glad Tidings" first not only because I personally enjoyed reading it and found it informative (in a good way!) but because bits of "Shadowlands" may be confusing if you don't. As for "Shadowlands"... I've been leading up to this story for years and am glad that it's finally finished. I regret, though, that I was writing it during my computer's slide into oblivion which coincided with a stressful time at work. Thus, I'm not sure that my editing and proofreading skills were quite up to snuff. Apologies for any typos! Also, if you do read my story, you may have a few minutes of "Wait... is this really a Dyeland story? Who are these people!?" Trust me: it is and you'll understand by chapter three. Anyway, more on the puter situation shortly!

God bless,
Jenni

Tomorrow marks a bittersweet occasion for me: I will be getting a new laptop and thus replace Serendipity, my first-ever laptop. While I'll likely keep Serendipity around for simple tasks like playing DVDs whilst sick in bed, its role with JABB will pretty much be over. Even though I've spent these last weeks verbally assaulting Serendipity for its constant crashes, freezes, and increasingly erratic behavior; I feel like I owe it a thank you for its vital role in keeping JABB going. So here goes.

Dear Serendipity,

I can still remember the first day I had you. The freedom! I could write or email or watch online videos without necessarily being at my desk! It was truly awesome! I could watch Touched DVDs in my bedroom! True, I'd deliberately set up my room to be a no-screen zone but, hey, needs/wants change. Sometimes a person just needs to curl up in bed with their favorite TV show, a cup of tea, and a box of Kleenex. Thanks to your portability, I was able to write and work on JABB from Amory, MS, Georgia, North Carolina, Seattle, rural Nebraska, Alaska, and the Pacific Ocean.

Serendipity, you first became a vital member of JABB in July 2011 after my desktop, Ebendrew, showed me the Black Screen of Death and had to be revived by a friendly tech guy. JABB 333 was the first newsletter I ever wrote on you. Short and thrown together, it gives no indications of the adventures we would have together. I'd like to highlight just a few.

It seems that every one of my stories on the Author's Cut Part 6 was written on you. Though I can't be entirely sure, I believe "In the Palm of His Hand" was the first. After that, it seems like another story would come to me every couple of months and sometimes more frequently. I have to believe that the freedom to move around contributed to that increase in creativity which, in turn, led to an increase in the number of characters populating Dyeland. With JABB 340, Violeta was welcomed into the colorful cast of Dyeland characters. True, she was a little rough around the edges at first but I know I've grown to love her and I hope Dyeland readers have, too. Thank you for giving me a place to begin her story. In JABB 344, you enabled me to welcome Joshua back into the stories after a fairly lengthy hiatus. We'd spend a lot of time with him in the years ahead, wouldn't we? Max's advent followed in "Abide With Me" and "Roots and Wings" offered the first hint of Belle's impending arrival. From there we met Chava, Ivy and Kemara, Arthur, Maryam and Yosef, Sean, the cast and crew of St. Genesius' 2014 production of Jesus Christ Superstar, Chris and his lil ones, Liam, Eilish, Samuel, Reuel and the people of El-Chanan, and a slew of others. Whether they were created in the depths of your files or downloaded from another author's email, you brought them to my screen and then to the Internet, Serendipity. Well done!

Come May of 2012, I used you to read up on exciting news: TBAA's fifth season was finally coming to DVD! Happily, news of the later seasons' releases followed. With your help, I was able to begin the task of redoing the TBAA screen caps on the Photo Gallery so those dratted Hallmark Channel logos would be gone. While finishing that project will likely be accomplished by your successor, ya did good, Serendipity. Also during your watch, the Story Index and Detailed Dyeland Timeline were created. I can't imagine how Kim or I would keep track of things without them!

And now a few words about "The Carpenter's Stories." Perhaps I shouldn't have been so hard on you, Serendipity, during these past couple of months. You did, after all, hold it together (for the most part) while a thousand page story was being written on you. You stayed strong as I researched some pretty tough stuff ranging from Roman scourging, biblical era infanticide, the age of consent in Massachusetts, sexual abuse recovery, domestic violence, the disaster that is purity culture, and more. The letters further disappeared off your keys as I giddily wrote about Jesus eating Froot Loops and St. John the Baptist taking a tumble into a fountain. You didn't short circuit when I got weepy about a traitor finding his way Home. Your email program brought me additional "Carpenter" stories from Kim and Heather and, for all of this, I am grateful.

Merriam-Webster defines serendipity as "luck that takes the form of finding valuable or pleasant things that are not looked for." When I stepped into Nebraska Furniture Mart four years ago, I was just looking for a computer that would turn on and not just angrily beep at me as Ebendrew was at the time. But, though I wasn't looking for it, I found the means of expressing myself better and more frequently than I believe I ever have in JABB's nearly 17 years. That being said, I don't think I was lucky to have had you. I think I was blessed.

Gratefully,
Jenni

Sniffle... Time to move on, methinks. Kim sent me another few questions some weeks ago so here's another edition of...

Ask a JABB Co-Founder

Question: With so many people dropping in for breakfast, lunch or dinner at Willowveil - not to mention their scheduled get-togethers, how do LJA and Andrew keep the larder stocked? How much do they all pool resources, supplies, etc?

Answer: I think it depends on how often someone is stopping by and/or if they reciprocate. Since Max and Rose often stay at Willowveil but do not necessarily host Andrew and JenniAnn with any frequency, I think it's safe to assume they probably slip some money into a communal jar in the kitchen. There's also the fact that Andrew and JenniAnn have limited financial obligations. They don't have a house payment. They won't have any education costs til Belle's at least in high school. They shop second-hand for clothes and household goods, for the most part. JenniAnn's transportation budget is likely negligible since the Tunnels get her to the classroom there and the Phoenix Inn. I assume God foots the bill for all of Andrew's assignment-related expenses. Therefore, I think they can afford to be generous with the food... especially considering they can take the portal to Nebraska where food is much cheaper than in NYC and L.A.

Question: What would they do if an emergency happened? Let's hope no one's house ever catches fire! But with the coming baby boom, you kinda wonder....plus there's a lot of water around.

Answer: I tell myself that they have fire hydrants and really strong hoses all over the place. :-) It sounds goofy but considering they have the expertise of the Tunnel dwellers to tap into, there could be something to it. Those people know their pipes! As for health emergencies, I'm sure lots of them know CPR and first aid and such. Then it would just be a matter of getting the wounded/ill person through the portal and to a hospital. If someone fell sick and it was feared that they may eventually need to be taken to a hospital, it would probably be wise to move them to Willowveil or Serendipity so they could quickly be taken through the gazebo portal if they took a bad turn.

Question: And speaking of the baby boom - what would happen if someone....untrustworthy decided to bring Dyeland to the attention of the TV news? Say an ex-boyfriend or extended family member for whatever mean reason. Could they actually do that? I'm guessing no one would be able to get in whom Joshua didn't want there in the first place.

Answer: That could actually be quite serious. Someone could enter Dyeland by either 1. forcing one of the Dyelanders or Friends to use their keys to open the portal and let them in or 2. spying on of them using the portal and then stealing the key for the interloper's own use later on. While Joshua obviously would not want that to happen, a lot goes on that Joshua doesn't want to have happen... What could be done is either Joshua or Cliff could close the impacted portal(s) and create new ones in more secure locations. If something like that ever did happen, it would probably be the end of the NYC alley portal and the Dyelanders would see a shift to portals only existing on private property owned by one of them. Then the owner could always get the bad apple arrested for trespassing so they wouldn't get very far with their scheme.

This newsletter is dedicated to John Dye for being so awesome in S9 of Touched. Finally... after nearly a year... I've been able to sit down and watch a couple TBAA episodes. They were "The Word" and "Feather on the Breath of God," to be precise. He was so lovely as Andrew in those episodes. I'm looking forward to... hoping to... get back to my weekly TBAA viewing so I can rewatch the rest of the season.

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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.)