TommyTBlog--"WORLD TOUR FREEDOM TOUR : April 2008

THE TOMMYT FREEDOM TOUR HAS ENDED!!!!!!!!!!
I know this brings great joy to many of you who have labored and strained to get through elongated and wordy emails or blog posts!!!!!!!! It is over===THIS IS IT—the last note of sabbatical.

So---what do we have here??
FINITO
BETTY-the readings
The Current State of Affairs-2007/08
4/18/08 note finishing –first week of work-
TRANSFORMATION
The “darkness”
Interconnectedness
TOMMYT’S FREEDOM TOUR IDEA FOR OUR NATION’S YOUTH-
THE END

YES, somewhere in the body of this letter is the official announcement-- the Sabbatical is OVER, finito, DONE-- as of 4/14/08. From 9/13/06 you've listened and read and either enjoyed or deleted the various, numerous, lengthy musings of a man on sabbatical. Well, here it is, the last note that sends me back to the world of employed, from U2 in Hawaii, the Super Bowl 2007, the Hoyas in the final four, a Baja Cali motorcycle trip, a summer at the beach (literally ALL summer, not a week), the POPE in ROME, and last, certainly not least, a 500 mile walk through Spain meant to both end a sabbatical and renew the meaning of life all in a few million footsteps--the Camino de Santiago!!!!!

And here we are---

Yet, I don't want to rush into this, my last note, and end it before my usual notes have barely begun--

So, as usual, let me digress---

It is 3/31/08, March 31st, and I'm on a plane (as usual) going to Florida to see my Mom. We just said goodbye, literally, for the last time to one of the senior matriarch's of our extended (my sister-in-law's mother) family, better known to my kids as Applegate. Mrs. Applegate, or Betty as she insisted I call her, lived to be 93 years old and lived a life that made my sabbatical pale by example. She even went to Antarctica, but she did it at AGE 82!!!!! So her immediate family had a wonderful service to celebrate her life and how blessed we all were to have her in ours. They had four readings, and the Pastor noted that each of them was "starred" ** in her bible, the one her father had given her on April 11th, 1926, hence why they were selected---

(The readings)----!!!!!!—cited and paraphrased a little-
Song of Solomon 2:10-13—
Set me as a seal upon your heart,
as a seal upon your arm;
for love is strong as death,
passion fierce as the grave.
Its flashes are flashes of fire,
a raging flame.
Many waters cannot quench love,
neither can floods drown it.
If one offered for love
all the wealth of his house,
it would be utterly scorned.

1 Corinthians 13: 1-13

2If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing
12Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.
13And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.

Matthew 5: 13-16

Salt and Light
13"You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled by men.
14"You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. 15Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. 16In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.

John 15: 9-12

9"As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. 10If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have obeyed my Father's commands and remain in his love. 11I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. 12My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you.

READINGS OVER--- relax and reflect---------------------------------------------

Betty was born in??... Let's see, I guess she was born in 1915. Middle of World War I-- Ford cars just started rolling, Woodrow Wilson was President, and, quite frankly, LIFE was a lot simpler then ---

But then again, life was pretty simple a mere 9 months ago, when the stock market was on its high, housing prices were going to go through roof AND the SKY this time, and people had no fear to mind those depression era themes like "rather go to sleep supperless than than rise in debt(B.Franklin)". --- people seemingly borrow money and spend money and live with no concern for much,

so simple when ......

And now look at the landscape---

It's not 1915, and it's not even 2007, and now we are all so much smarter than we were just a few short months ago--

NOW,

--Cranes are falling down in NYC--

--Barack's winning yet the press is treating him like he's always playing defense-- except Rolling Stone, who's doing enough attacking of his opponent to make Republicans look meek--

--The stock market, well, we'll cover that soon enough, and don't even get me started on the "bond" market-

--housing prices, and home loans, are in such dire straits that politicians are coming to the rescue, which will be sure to screw up housing in the USA like Japan screwed up their banks in the 90's!!!

--And our current President is where he is, and Jan '09 just can't here soon enough so the world can have someone else to blame for everything-- Hillary, yeah, she was against the war right after she voted "for it"!!!!

--Iraq-- I wrote back in Spain that Edwin Starr had it right in his song "WAR", it's absolutely good for nothing"-- and now that we've been in Iraq 5 years it's clear we screwed up, and now it will be up to the next president to try and fix it--- get the peace, keep the flow of oil, and attempt to grow a democracy in the middle of a desert--
It seemed like such a worthwhile ideal, to give freedom and hope, but our execution of that noble ideal has simply failed-. Period. I'm sure history will have a fuller story on this episode in Iraq, but the current view is we missed an opportunity to secure the peace right away and it has now slipped away.

It use to be so "simple"---- heavy stuff--

So, what's a music fan suppose to listen too???? Well, -I've got some news---

KITTY's BACK IN TOWN!!!!!!!

Ooh. Ooh ooh ooh. All right, all right!!

Ooh Ooh ooh ooh all right, all right-

Are you with me?

It's 10/19/74, Schenectady, New York, and Bruce and the band so fresh and raw, and the room they are playing in sounds from the recording like it could a basement of a house and the crowd sounds like they all live right down the street-- it could be Freehold, or Toms River, or Point Pleasant Beach at "the Beach House", --

And it brings me back to remembering I've been listening to these songs while all this autobiographical stuff has been happening since??? 1973/1974, yeah, since right about then--

Pre Born To Run??? YUP-- read that "Rocket Man" post in the blog to get more of the flavor of this life, my life, should you care to know where this mind of mine came from, but suffice it to say here that Bruce and the boardwalk and the Ferris Wheel and the SwissBob and ROSALITA seem like they were and are ALWAYS there---intertwined-- all they needed to do is to have some space, some FREEDOM, and then ""ROSIE can come OUT tonight!!!"""

And all my friends, my colleagues, my associates, my family, and YOU, YOU can all come too, figuratively, through the words that I've shared with you over these last 18 months..

Kitty's BACK, AND ROSIE's coming out, and we're gonna PROVE IT once again, ALL NIGHT!!!

Where were we? and where are we?

The world has gotten complicated, its no longer just get a job, join a firm, and just let the work and the meritocracy speak for itself---because one firm that stood proudly on that ground has just been fed (no pun intended by FED) to the wolves, or saved by the sheep, depending on your point of view--

TRADER's make decisions and stand by them-- the thing I don't get is why so many people who AREN'T traders are in positions of powerful decision-making--- it is getting embarrassing and damn expensive to watch notable "leaders" completely LACKING in leadership and skilled decision-making (and I’m not even talking about the political leaders, I’m talking about business leaders, you, know, global titans of power and wealth that get it SO WRONG it’s incredible, and sad, and enormously impactful on people’s lives..)

Bear Stearns was a great firm, but the thing I liked most about them is that THEY REQUIRED senior people to donate 10% of their income to charity, and they didn't care what school you went to, or what town you came from. The pure American Dream, as I liked to think of it.
EXCEPT THE ENDING!!!!!!!!!!!!

So, Tom, knowing what a mess this world is, why are you thinking about coming BACK???? Into it? That financial markets world you left 18 months ago (or three years ago depending on your point of view)???

Thinking about it? No!!!! I have thought about it, and I KNOW this is the right thing and I've found the right place and the right people for this move. And they've found me, too, or we wouldn't be writing this note.

But, this is the time, and here we GO!!!!!!

It's NOW APRIL 18th, as I didn't want to finish the "note" until I could send it---so, it's 6pm or so on 4/18, Friday night and I'm on a train to DC to see my two girls at Georgetown, and I've completed my first WEEK of WORK, so NOW I can finish and publish this final note that I told you I wouldn't send until I WAS WORKING, and I AM--- AM, that sounds like "am", as in 5:10am, which is when my alarm rang this morning, and that is truly the best measure my body has that I am WORKING!!!! Because sabbatical days, trust me, DO NOT start at 5:10am--- although I did fairly frequently have a routine around 5:10pm!!!!!!!

So to the finish--- and what's happened since --- I thoroughly enjoyed my first week of work and think I have been fortunate to find a place that calls me to my mission--- not quite like a sabbatical, and in one week you get underneath the hood and you see that like most businesses and corporate environments you have your "happy" and "unhappy" people, you're "love it here" and "not so much"!!!

But I'm about building, experiencing, growing, and raising, not about "where we are" but more about WHERE ARE WE GOING--- so any of these sound bites, the "10 bankers left", the "tough markets affecting the stock", the rest of it to me seem like such small problems when my mission is to help my colleagues figure out how to grow our business while it appears many/most of the competitive landscape is focused on shrinking--

I have to be the only person in the financial markets that met 20 people this week with the sole purpose of "recruiting them"!!!!!!

Ooohhh ooohhh oooh ALL RIGHT-
Oooooh ooohhh oooh "all right" ,
ALL RIGHT
KITTY's BACK IN TOWN, and SANDY, and the E STREET Shuffle---

And you know who was back in town today? in the BIG NYC, that same city where people don't sleep and I WORK!!!!!??? For MY first week of work, of course you'll say it's just another silly boardwalk coincidence, that my MAIN man Most Excellency the POPE, you know, HIS MOST EXCELLENCY POPE BENEDICT, the very same ONE I stood next to in DEC '06 when I was on SABBATICAL!!!!!!!!

Yeah, so the POPE is Back, and KITTY's BACK, and BRUCE fan's the world over have lost another member of the clan-- Danny Federici passed away 4/17th and has joined Terry and I can't help and reflect about how sad that E Street Band must be, and how sad all us fans are, and I just acknowledge that we're all here for such a short time, in such a WIDE open space, that we just HAVE TO make the MOST of our GOD-GIVEN TALENTS, whether they turn us into a great teacher, a wonderful social worker or medical field caregiver, a GIFTED ORGAN PLAYER, simple laborer, or just a humble priest turned POPE—we’ve go to take advantage of our FREEDOM

Use the talents, and LEAD with your HEART-and, (you've heard me say this before),

LET LOVE BE YOUR CORNERSTONE!!!!

Whatever that calling is in each of us, it's hard to lose identity, our identity, during periods like the current one--- where economic moments collide with market moments and in the wink of an eye and industry lops 100,000 jobs of the top (that's where the financial industry is heading during this contraction by my estimates)-- and WORK is such an "IDENTITY" thing---isn't it?

What do you want to be when you grown up?
What are you studying to be?
What do you do?
What did you do?

Remember those Camino comments and my point about "why" not "what??, as in "why are we here" not "what do we do", as in work---

In all phases of our life, from a young child to an old man, people ask you to IDENTIFY yourself by the WHAT YOU DO???

It's hard to deny that "what we do", the why we wake up and our habit and our daily routine in this world an awful lot of the time revolves around WHERE, WHAT and HOW WE........ WORK!!!!!!!!!!

And LOSING that IDENTITY, even if its for a SABBATICAL,, but ESPECIALLY when its taken from you and was providing the food on the table (not to mention if you were a 10 or 20 year BEAR STEARNS veteran watching all your identity and hard work going out the window without your having ANY control), when one loses their JOB--- now THAT is HARD!!! And tough to deal with and an emotional and complicated challenge--

Here an NOW, when ONE needs to find that NEW identity to replace the old---[and I recognize that ALL of us are SO MUCH MORE than "where we work" or "what we do" but funny enough we kinda become known for that "workspace" we occupy, and we also become known for the reputation we carry in that SPACE---]

We might have "OTHER" identities,, like father, mother, "POPE", etc, but this "work" identity is undeniable--- it both gives us a PURPOSE and an IDENTITY--

Whether you're caring for the elderly, or working on Wall Street, people know who you are, and people know you, through your identity.-- your "work"-- maybe less so today than 100 years ago when “work” meant farming, fishing, and the advent of the industrial revolution was getting into full swing, but our identity is still very tied up in OUR WORK-

For instance, I knew DAN FEDERICI as "on the organ, Mr Dan Federici", when Bruce was introducing the band during concerts, just simply the sound of the E Street band that always brought me back to the boardwalk with his organ or accordion- ALWAYS, that was his identity to me.--and it was tied to..... His WORK-- that is, as artistically as he did it, even still, that was "his job"!!! And now it happens to be someone else's, and now that person will be "identified" by the "job" he inherited--- ps. That new person has it because he used his God-given talents to his fullest, clearly-- and that is also Danny's legacy, a lasting imprint on the minds of millions of fans as key ingredient in the sound known as the E-Street band.
Pretty nice legacy, and very warm and joyful memories, and this is from a distance.

So, Rest in Peace, Mrs. Applegate, and Rest in Peace, Mr Dan Federici-- and now God has at his side the greatest organ player this side of E Street, Main Street and Wall Street-
And nicest little lady this side of Pasadena-

And now to me--- and my NEW IDENTITY!!!!!! it's onto to helping all these displaced workers in our economy find a new place, a new identity, and I'm in the fortunate role of being able to be assisting and perhaps offering an opportunity to some of those people--- and that should be a lot of fun, HENCE why I thought the job would be fun, HENCE why I TOOK the damn JOB!!!!!!!!

FIND THE PONY---that is my advice to anyone suffering through these challenging times-- like Reagan said, a "recession" is when your neighbor is out of work, a "depression" is when YOU'RE OUT OF WORK!!!!

Find that PONY---in all this mess, with ALL THIS MANURE in the room we call the financial markets, THERE JUST HAS TO BE a PONY!!!!! In here somewhere!!!!!!!

So, I finished my first week at Jefferies & Co, and I've got a great partner, and his daughter was just accepted to G'Town!!!!! So we have that in common, and so work it is and I'm off on a new CAMINO!!!, a new path, a new walk, and it feels pretty good!!!!!! And the people seem great, and it's small, and there are (so far) NO MEETINGS!!!!! So it's all looking pretty good, but just like those Bear vet's one never knows what's around the corner---- Lead with Love and let the rest take care of itself--EVEN in WORK!!!!!!!

Trust me, one week back and I know LOVE works-----and I know loving work works too!!!!!!!!

But, to be clear, the "job" identity isn't something we get away from, but we shouldn't get LOST in it either---
The FACT of the MATTER is that PEOPLE give us jobs, just plain ordinary people who might be big and powerful and rich or not--but just people all the same--

There are two identities given to us by God, in contrast---- "Parent" is one, "spouse" is the other---so when you LOOK at the BIG PICTURE and you START out on your career or RESTART your JOB career don't get lost in IT so MUCH that you lose your REAL IDENTITY as a person, as a friend, as a soulmate, as a loving and giving parent--
Work helps define us and what we do, but it does not define WHO WE ARE!!!!!!!!!!!!
or WHY WE ARE HERE!!!!!!!! never lose sight of that-

So you can find me at my blog or on Bloomberg now if you have one, and all my old emails work so keep any thoughts or prayer requests coming--- and keep in mind those suffering in one way or another, a number of those who just aren't use to it and one year ago had a bright future and outlook---because now they have to FIND THEIR PONY---and things probably look bleak if they don’t keep the big picture in mind-

Of course, if they ask me, I might tell them to just take it easy and go take a walk......>>>. A LONG one, and slow down and seek and find the face and spirit of God in all that is around us....

TRANSFORMATION-----

Big word, kinda like INNOVATION, but INNOVATION, even capitalized, doesn't mean TRANSFORMATION!!!!

I want to spend this last part of this LAST NOTE (really!!) On the word TRANSFORMATION---- and I want to apply it, not just use it in a sentence---

I think the last 18 months of my life have been TRANSFORMATIONAL for me---- I have progressed in the things I care about, in how I think, and the way I walk on my PATH, my CAMINO--and I truly know how incredibly lucky and blessed I was to be able to do almost exactly what I wanted without a care for this time at this moment in my life--- I don't know why I am so blessed, and I trust and pray that I just need to continue the walk I am on--- wherever it leads me--LEADING with LOVE (and no, this doesn't mean I will never raise my voice in the office-- I haven't TRANSFORMED that MUCH)----

I have a desire to inspire--- how's that roll off the tongue -" A DESIRE TO INSPIRE!!!!!!" Anyone being touched by or reading this or accidentally ending up in this paragraph-- my desire for you , my prayer for you, is for you to be TRANSFORMED too, in a very simple, meaningful way, BY LOVE---

I know we can all do more than we do in this world to further the cause of LOVE, so I'm hoping that at least one thing in this long, winding, erratic run-on blog has touched you and inspired you to transform someone else with YOUR LOVE --- the more they need it, the more important it is that you take that step---

I'm saddened still as I write this by a recent incident in our town (yes, our home town that one never thinks things happen in except bliss!!)-- and that event was the passing away of a 14 year-old child of her own will and choice---- and these words don't come lightly --

And I think, and can't help but think, that somewhere on our path WE missed an opportunity to LOVE, and that "Darkness" on the edge of town I spoke of somehow crept inside of town won out over love, in a very extreme way ---
When one chooses permanent solutions to temporary problems it becomes extremely sad and ??? well, you can finish that sentence with your own thoughts--

Now I know most of you reading are not "connected" to this event (although I am hard- pressed to call the death of a 14 year-old "an event") and this is a "thing" that happens sometimes and it is an incredible tragedy and everyone is extremely sad and sorry and feels even worse for the family in this story.

But don't look for an explanation from me, things like this really can't be "explained"-- I tremble writing--- how do you even start to try and figure it out? You don't know, and I certainly don't know-- I don't know why the darkness won, but it did—---------BUT, you also can't just IGNORE IT and just go about your day thinking that everything goes BACK TO "NORMAL", "WHATEVER THE HECK THAT IS"!!!

And I'm sad- and I feel just plain bad for those affected--- and the NET is very, VERY WIDE--
And that goes back to my point about "interconnectedness"--- we are ALL interconnected, and a pebble in the ocean in Japan will ripple in some way through the vast ocean and impact us right here on the Eastern seaboard---

And we are all so interconnected that we CANNOT MISS opportunities to CONNECT--- with those that are "LIKE" us, whatever that means, but especially with those that "aren't like us"-- you know, different, needy, aloof, whatever- adults, children, YOUR CHILDREN, MINE, we need to show the way- the WAY to LOVE, by CONNECTING ourselves---BY SLOWING DOWN in a very fast world--- and taking time with people that we can and do touch.

You remember the teachers in the hallways when you were rushing to class????

"WALK, Don't Run"!!!!!! they would yell, so you upright your body and move your straight legs really fast---

WALK, DON'T RUN!!!!!!!!! Slow Down---and see the signs being directed at you---

That's it-- because if we miss that opportunity, you just never know the ripples --not that you "caused" those ripples, but they happened nonetheless—and the point is not about causing ripples, but THAT WE do not miss the opportunity to CAUSE RIPPLES OF LOVE, MY "RAISE THE LOVE RATE" comment—THAT’s RIGHT, be a FORCE in RAISING THE LOVE RATE---

So, today, lastly, CONNECT, all over, with LOVE--- and if you're not getting this, then SLOW DOWN, WALK, don't run, in the pace of your life and the people's lives you touch.

Pls keep your fellow man, your neighbor, your family, your country, YOUR GOD, and your own SELF in your prayers--- oh, yeah, try it, so today after reading this I'm hoping I can do a little transforming myself--- AND SLOW DOWN a little so you can even notice some of those folks--

Say a prayer for the people dealing with this tragedy in my town, and say a prayer for our youth, our Nation's youth, that they have the strength to overcome the challenges posed by this new age that they are growing up in-- it's quite a hard place, much different than that simple place Betty Applegate grew up in 1915, and between the internet and the TV and the girls in Florida beating a neighborhood "popular" girl, it is a world that is being challenged by the "progress" we have made on some fronts-- and the “lack of progress” we haven't made on others---right here, down the block, next door, across the street, and right in our own home---

We NEED to TRANSFORM IT with love, and we need to recognize THAT TRANSFORMATION is more important than any old JOB or WORK or IDENTITY--- we're a little too caught up in THAT!!!!!!!

So, after you've said that prayer, and you're still with me, I've got my proposal for you---

It's MY IDEA on how we can TRULY TRANSFORM---

TOMMYT’S FREEDOM TOUR IDEA FOR THE YOUTH OF OUR NATION—

Barack? you getting this?--just making sure now that you have Bruce's endorsement!!!!

Not sure you remember I talked about going to New Orleans in December to help some folks move back into their homes for XMas? I never really elaborated (believe it or not I missed some details!!!) on that trip, on the fact that ONE Wall Street firm paid the expenses of the 50 volunteers with a donation for that trip???

The name of that firm??? BEAR STEARNS!!!!!!!

well, during my trip to New Orleans with "H.E.A.R.T. 911" the WTC rescue workers group,( http://www.heart911.org/ ) to learn more about this great org)....

I met a great group of people that were in our "Camp Hope" barracks who had volunteered as part of AmeriCorps youth volunteers team and had been assigned to New Orleans for 1 or 2 years. These kids were 18-24 years old, some were in college and some weren't, but ALL were working and helping as part of an engaged community (very much like my Community of Pilgrims!!!), and of course bunk beds were part of the territory. ALL made the choice to volunteer--

Ready??? I'm READY, as Tracy Chapman sings--I'm not sure how we "teach" the pure old fashioned American Dream, and I know the "RIGHTS" people wouldn't want me to “impose” things on people--

BUT we do have TO DO something!!!!! Don't we??

What do I propose????I propose we attempt to transform, TRANSFORM our NATION's YOUTH---

Pretty bold sounding, eh????

Let me continue, and finish all in one---

The "YOUTH of THE NATION"

Except this time we tell people if you WANT to live here, in the USofA, then you've got to do just ONE THING, ONE TIME in your life as a citizen, and we'll PAY YOU for it too!!!

We need to give our youth, more than anything else, the HOPE and the LOVE--- and unfortunately we need to face up to the fact that we need to do a better job teaching THE HOPE and THE LOVE IN THIS CURRENT DAY IN AGE???, don't we???--- the only way one LEARNS HOPE and LOVE is by experiencing it through GIVING, and GETTING, HOPE and LOVE---

One needs to get away from the internet, cable, TV, and just DO SOMETHING---

So I propose that we REQUIRE 18 year-old students finishing high school in our country to enlist in AmeriCorps--- REQUIRED---ENLISTMENT--- DRAFT THEM!!!!!! If they don't have anything to do well then guess what?? problem solved-- and if they do well then they can choose when to take a breath and take a walk and give of themselves a little >>>

WELL<<>>>>>…….WELL<<>YOUTH ONENESS!!!!!!!!!, as I like to call it---

When someone asks you what you're doing after high school, EVERYONE will have AT LEAST one answer, and that answer, I'm highly confident, will lead to others--- and somewhere in all the MANURE they walk through-- GUESS WHAT---- my BET is they will FIND THEIR PONY-

--And it is very clear to me that we need to start doing something more to give our nations’ youth that HOPE and LOVE and CONFIDENCE in their futures-- not just the smart ones, or the rich ones, or the middle ones, but "ALL" THE ONES---and it is also very clear that today's programs, the ones your taxes are paying for, are falling far short of their goal and therefore we are wasting money on unproductive and unsuccessful attempts—

It’s a different age, and we need a DIFFERENT PROGRAM----and we MIGHT need a NEW LEADER to LEAD us with it---

I've seen money thrown in vast amounts in directions that reap no dividends in the name of opportunity???? And they have largely FAILED to TRANSFORM--At least they, all our youth, will know they are ALL CONNECTED by this LOVE, this common mission that they know they and their fellow schoolmates will be experiencing at some point after high school, --and perhaps it will calm the psycho A student who can't take not getting into Harvard, and perhaps it will give the directionless kid in south city center a new purpose and choice in a road mired with poverty and no hope.

And perhaps the whole youth of the Nation will connect as one, in ONENESS!!!!!!!, on this one project----

We formerly had military enlistment, through the draft---Now, let's DRAFT our youth into a 9 month volunteer program where we feed them (some of them aren't getting that in this country, by the way!!!), we teach them, we mentor them, and somewhere in all this I'm sure we will LOVE them too---

Yeah, I know, PARENTS are suppose to do this??? Well, the Florida girls assault story aside, I don't think the country should stand idly by while the erosion of our moral fiber weighs in the balance. WE need to find this path now, while people are young, and touch them in a way most of them will never experience—

...and dream, and hope, in this land of ours—this land of hope and dreams!!!!!!!!

New Idea, New Time, New ROAD, NEW Path, NEW CAMINO, for us------ so i'll send this little missive along and see where this lands in DC-

TO LOVE, because Love is truly the greatest power we have in this world, and it is our bridge that survives us into the next. It is, and it will be, our legacy. Yours and Mine.

On the end of one journey, and the beginning of a new one,

Knowing that I know little, but I understand more than I did before this sabbatical started,

I leave you, and my sabbatical behind, with this prayer from St. Therese of Lisieux – --Saint Therese is known as the "Saint of the Little Ways"

Saint Therese's Prayer

May today there be peace within.

May you trust God that you are exactly where you are meant to be.

May you not forget the infinite possibilities that are born of faith.

May you use those gifts that you have received, and pass on the love that has been given to you.

May you be confident knowing you are a child of God. Let this presence settle into your bones, and allow your soul the freedom to sing, dance, praise and love.

It is there for each and every one of us.

Nuff said-music and joy and dance and love—trusting that you are exactly where you are meant to be-

Peace
TT

THE END—really!!!!!

TommyTBlog--"WORLD TOUR FREEDOM TOUR

Sunday, April 27, 2008

TOMMY T'S FREEDOM TOUR IDEA FOR THE "YOUTH OF OUR NATION"

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