So a few weeks ago I said there might not be a newsletter this week. I was fibbing! I originally wrote a newsletter about harvests from our home garden. Then on Tuesday night, I went to see Maddy in her premier as Lulu in Waitress. (Remember that’s the reason I wasn’t sure I’d be able to get a newsletter together.) I’m actually writing this at nearly midnight after her opening show. She was amazing. I enjoyed the entire show, but I’ll admit my heart was beating out of my chest for most of the two hours. Her role is at the very end of the show, during the finale song. That means it was late. And she’s four. And you know what can happen to four-year-olds after bedtime . . . But not Maddy. I’m not sure why I was even nervous. This is the girl that sang ‘You are my Sunshine’ in front of two hundred guests last summer at a wedding and she was the ‘Little Blue Train that Could’ climbing snowbanks in Minnesota.

She’s proven time and again that she has more guts and gumption than the average person. It’s not just anybody that will go out on a concert hall stage in front of nearly 2500 people, with one rehearsal and one sound check. Most of us would be overcome with nerves. Not my Maddy. She gave it everything she had and the pride in my heart was overwhelming as I heard the oohs, aahs and gasps from the audience when Little Lulu was revealed on the stage. I still don’t know that show business is in our future, but it has been a unique experience. And who knows, maybe one day the playbill she autographed for me will remind us of where it all started.

And don’t forget the Growing Fruit Trees workshop this Saturday at 10am. I might be a little tired from the week, but I promise I’ll be ready to teach you all about growing fruits in Florida and give you my best tips getting great harvests.