West Jet flight 85

I just got the phone call from Nashville. Dean made it there... After all of that driving and staying up all night and tiredness, his passport never came. In fact the passport website doesn't even show it as being received by them (but mine does....) And we have not been able to get through to the passport office by phone. If it is ever not busy, the automated thing says that there are too many people on hold and call back later.... yah, right!

So his trip to Nashville, took some arranging... After 4 hours on the internet on various sites, Ronni and I worked out a pretty good alternative plan. He flew from Kelowna to Vancouver and then took a shuttle that went directly from the Vancouver (Richmond... it always gets called the vancouver airport but as a former richmondite, I have to point out that it actually is in Richmond...) airport to the Seatac airport where he took a flight on US Airways to Nashville Tennessee. He was so anxious going, worrying about all the things that could go wrong.... He is a fussy traveller anyways and easily gets overwhelmed. He left at 1:45 yesterday afternoon and he got to Nashville at 8:24 this morning (6:24 our time). He just called me moments ago and now I can relax. I sent him calming vibes every time I thought of him.

He is excited to be there and finish the recording started here. And to be somewhere like that - where so much music is made, and close to Elvis' home and a Gibson guitar factory. I am happy for him and excited for him.

I've said good bye to him many times as he leaves on the road. Usually for gigging and he has gone on 2 week tours and 1 week tours but mostly he goes for the weekend. It is a normal pattern for us and I hardly think about it. Sure I miss him when he is gone for more than a weekend and sometimes I wish he was here to do some weekend stuff with more often. But this is different. This was more than saying good bye to him for the 6 days he will be gone (home on Monday). While they are finishing their recording with this well respected and talented producer, he has also set up meetings with some industry people - like the guys that promoted the Dave Mathews Band for example. The fact is that for Dean to fulfill his Dream and get the acknowledgement and recognition that he deserves, there will be a time when I see very little of him because he will be gone a lot. I know that his dreams always include me and our family, I have no doubt about that, he often talks about how all of our lives will be and I know what it would mean to him to have that kind of success and to be able to provide so well for us doing what he really loves and is so good at. But it is bittersweet for me. I miss him already.