PhoenixCon-test

As many of you might have heard by now, I’m running a contest this week – the winner receives a general admission pass to PhoenixCon!!

Here are the deets:

Every $40+ item you purchase in my shop or via etsy qualifies as 1 entry into a drawing I will be doing this weekend.  The item must be at least $40 after all discounts and before shipping charges.

The only items not valid for entries are gift certificates, items purchased with a gift certificate, or fundraiser items.

The winner will be announced on my livestream show, #SoGetThis on Tuesday, May 31, where I will be interviewing the incredible Connor Stanhope! The link to this show will be posted soon on FB and the Twittah.

Subscribe to My YouTube channel –  you’ll always be up to date on the goodies I’ve got goin’ on!

The winner will have 48 hours to confirm with me that they are able to attend the event – if I don’t hear from the winner or the winner is unable to attend, a new winner will be drawn and announced on social media.

The winner will pick up the pass in person from me at PhoenixCon in the vendor’s room.

Please note, the prize is for a general admission pass only – the winner is responsible for all of their own expenses; travel, hotel, food, autographs, photo-ops, etc.

O, Father, Where Art Thou?

My relationship with my dad at times was hard for me because of the pain his wife put me through from the time I was 9 up through young adulthood.

Once I was on my own, I wound up avoiding him at times just to be away from her.  Now that she’s gone, a new man has risen from the ashes and I saw it with my own eyes this weekend.

My father was down here in Tennessee to visit me for the first time since I moved down here 2 years ago. It was amazing to spend time with him, to show him all of the things that make me love living here so much.

He lost his wife a while back who had been contending with a serious illness for a long time.  He was her sole caregiver and in the process, lost himself long before she passed.

To see him full of life, vibrant, social, back on the scene – it was so heartwarming.

I NEVER expected him to agree to being interviewed on #SoGetThis –  He agreed readily and he only had one task to perform before the interview – he had to watch the pilot episode of Supernatural – which he did!

He was really impressed with the show and found it to be, unfortunately, something he could relate to.  But it also helped him understand what I do and why I am so rapt in the Winchesters’ story.

We sat in my backyard at night, watching the night sky while he told me about the stars – he’s an avid cosmology buff and knows his shit.

It felt like each time we spoke to each other I was re-learning who my father really was. He  has become the father I remembered from back when I was a little girl. The cocoon of pain, disappointment, and overwhelming burdens that had built up over the past several decades sloughed off of him to reveal a vibrant, happy man in control of his life.

He’s been through tragedies that I can’t articulate here, but I will say that he emerged triumphant at last and has a positive outlook on the rest of his life.

And I’m beyond proud to be a part of it.

It hurts me so much now to think of the the times I avoided him. But I look at the present as a gift and I appreciate that we have this time now.

These feelings are pretty much articulated in the piece “The Apology” – a reference to the moment between Chuck and Lucifer in We Happy Few.

It’s never too late to rebuild, to renew, to relearn, and to rejoice with the people in your life.  I’ve learned that now.