Back from Iwakuni

I truly don't know where to begin . . . . . the Japan adventure was incredible! Wonderful friendships were forged and it was amazing to see our Marines and Sailors preserving our freedoms in a distant land.

From the moment we boarded ANA until we left the Japanese influence behind, we were treated with kindness, respect and total hospitality. Never have I seen such accommodating people. They anticipate your every need and meet it to the very best of their ability.

We arrived in the middle of the night, found our rooms and tried to rest a little after a grueling 22+ hours on the road and in the air. DJ was the first one ready to sightsee the next morning . . . anxious to get his co-cast members out and about in Hiroshima. I spent the day in the Family Service Center with Betty, LaNita, Gina and Ellen and with NCIS Supervisory Special Agent Scott Vousboukis.

I managed to get away for a day of sight-seeing with DJ, Danielle, Miciah and Jori. We had a great time and enjoyed the beauty of Iwakuni, and a very interesting dinner. (Glad I am a vegetarian, because it seems everyone except Danielle and I ate horse.)

The three performances at the theater were well-attended and enjoyed by all.

The return trip had its moments. First, DJ and I lost our passports, but fortunately mine was returned the same night by the cab driver. DJ's luck was not immediate, however, and we spent many hours fretting over his ability to come back to the US with us. All worked out in the end, and we traveled home together.

Yesterday, the Evening of the Arts Volunteer team met at the Broadway Palm Dinner Theater for a run through of responsibilities of the upcoming fundraising event on November 9. Hope everyone will tell their friends, co-workers and family members to support this joint effort between FTH and Bravery Project. You won't be disappointed.

Upcoming TV/radio interviews to promote Evening of the Arts include Mesa Talking with Scott Anderson and Channel 12, noon show, Nov 2.

Maybe by Christmas I will catch-up on my sleep.

First Performance of this Season

So many new things are happening for Fix the Hurt, it's difficult to get my arms around all of them.

It was really great to meet the new cast, Danielle, DJ, Nicole, Jori, Miciah, and see the outstanding performance of Domestic Violence, The Musical?, they gave at the TVSA Conference on Sept 16. Between all the "forgotten" things (a lot my fault) it's a wonder that the performance went off as wonderful as it did. The music is so enhanced and sounds fantastic. Thank you, Miciah Dodge. The dancing was innovative and exciting. Thank you Danielle Wetzel. There was an instant, spontaneous standing ovation. The praises were endless for Loren's writing talent. All-in-all, it was terrific

There are so many people in my life helping me that I could not begin to name them all. My youngest daughter, Lindsey, has a birthday next week and she set up a donation request for FTH on FB for her friends to donate in lieu of birthday presents. How sweet is that??

Beverly Brown, my friend and trusted travel agent, at Travel Mania has helped me with travel arrangements to Wichita Falls and Japan. http://travelmaniavacations.com/. Honestly, it's almost easier to get to Japan than Wichita Falls, TX. I'm handling the Southwest Airlines travel arrangements just fine, but glad Beverly is there for the harder stuff.

I have met some amazing people this week. Jan Lobeck, a mother whose daughter was killed by her ex-husband in Kansas, and Sara Jane Drescher, whose daughter, Donnah, was killed by her husband. Jan has written a book, "Not In Vain" and Sara helped start a shelter in Ft. Lauderdale, FL - Women in Distress. These mothers, like me, never wanted to belong to this exclusive club where your heart is breaking and you want to make all the madness stop. We are doing the best we can with what we have and hopefully it will change one or two lives in the process, and those one or two will pass it on.

And then, there is my partner, Vickie Florschuetz, Bravery Project founder, whom I love. We met with Jane Irvine and Dan Levey with the Office of the Attorney General. They were most receptive and gave us about an hour of their time to listen to our frustrations about lack of funding for preventive measures in this fight to reduce domestic violence in Arizona and across our nation. Vickie and I, along with our dedicated committee are working hard to bring underwriters and sponsors out of the woodwork to help us with the cost of presenting - Evening of the Arts at the Broadway Palm Dinner Theater in Mesa. One true lifesaver was John Paterson of International Minute Press in Mesa. Vickie and I met with John about printing the tickets, poster and programs for Evening of the Arts. Well, John is donating all the printing -- something we never dreamed he would do. What a great surprise! What a great person! Thank you John. Our task now is to sell, sell, sell tickets.

Keely Bamberg has been trying to focus my head on a strategic plan for Fix the Hurt. Actually, she is such an amazing person, I have even enjoyed this part of being in the non-profit world of business. She is striving to assist FTH in it's direction, plannning, and achieving of our long-term goals. All I want to do is go out there and use every resource available to me, every venue opened to me, every media opportunity I can find to teach prevention, to educate and to reduce the number of lives that are changed forever at the hands of an abuser. But, we must be organized, professional and funded. That's where Keely is there to guide and direct, so I will try to be a good steward.

John is busy every day, I mean every day, trying to keep our family fed and clothed. He works from about 5 am to 10 pm, six days a week, and sometimes 2 to 3 hours if he receives a service call on Sunday. I love and appreciate his dedication to his family and to the mission of Fix the Hurt.

A Week of Many Emotions

Tough week for our family. September 1 was eight years since Lisa's death. Lots of sweet memories of her seemed to fill my heart and mind and that's a blessing. She was such a fun child. She was always happy, brave and poised to help her siblings. She loved to bake and was the designated family cookie/cake maker. But her life was cut short and we miss her.

There are many things to look forward to for Fix the Hurt. We have met some very well-connected and forward looking people, who will help to raise awareness and bring to light many of the misconceptions about domestic violence through their sense of our mission.

Travel reservations are confirmed and we are looking forward to the upcoming performances of "Domestic Violence, The Musical?" in several military bases/posts in the U.S. and Japan. Also looking forward to going to El Paso this month for the TVSA conference - Tortilla Soup for the Advocates Soul. September also holds the Pinal County DV Conference and Karma Cups. Speaking of Karma Cups, daughter, Lindsey, has an entry for the bra decorating contest. I think she is quite clever. Here is what she wrote to go with her entry.

"Much time and thought went into what I wanted my bra entry to represent. First and foremost, I wanted it to be a message of hope and better things to come.
Finally Free describes my sister, Lisa. Lisa’s life came to a tragic end eight years ago, but, as I said when I spoke to her abuser in the courtroom: “You took away my best friend, she was all that I had, and now she is gone. But she is better off, because you cannot hurt her any more. She is finally free.”
To all those women who are still in an abusive relationship, I say, “Free yourselves” from the chains of abuse. The purple skirt says to “gather up” your courage and strength and move forward. The bling and sequins are symbolic of a rich future in store for you as a survivor . Butterflies are beautiful and remind us of the freedom to move about, make choices and find your own place in the wide, wonderful world. Everyone loves butterflies and you are loveable and beautiful. Obviously purple is the color that symbolizes healing.
So, let us join together (back hooks) and spread the word that we are here to support and lift each other."

Lindsey King Robles

Another exciting new venture is our continuing rehearsals for the new play, "Total Control" (maybe - still toying with titles). We are enjoying working with our director, David Barker, and pleased with the progress we have made so far. Hopefully, we will be ready to offer this performance by January 2010. Also working on the teen dating musical, "I Have This Friend". Very happy to have met with Keely Bamberg, a very talented young woman who owns StrateGente. We hope to very soon be working with Keely on a strategic plan for Fix the Hurt.

Well, this is just kind of an update on what is going on with Fix the Hurt.

Anticipating a busy fall

As the fall of the year draws nearer, we get a taste of how busy we are going to be, with performances of "Domestic Violence, The Musical?", speaking opportunities, trainings, volunteering, events, and travel.





There are many upcoming events that are very special - what am I saying, they are all special!! One in particular is the opportunity I have to travel back to Osceola County, Florida. I have been invited to be the keynote speaker for the Help Now of Osceola Domestic Violence Conference, Oct 6. I have many fond memories of living in Osceola County. We had some truly wonderful experiences as we raised our children there. It is where Lane and Lindsey were born, where Lori and Lisa spent almost their entire lives, from elementary school thru high school. We have some forever friends there that will always be dear to our hearts. But it is also where the nightmare began that would be the end of one of our children's death.



September 16th, we will be in El Paso, Texas at the Texas Victim Services Conference - "Tortilla Soup for the Soul". Some of my very favorite people will be attending, some new friends and some from the past. We will present the play with a whole new cast - a group of actors from Phoenix - talented singers, actors, dancers and musicians. Loren and this cast have been working tirelessly to add a little extra to an already almost perfect delivery of our message. We will be back in El Paso on Oct 9 for two performances at Ft. Bliss.


Osceola County where Lisa's journey began and El Paso, where her journey ended - within a month of each other.


Then it is on to other states and other countries.


My next blog will be in anticipation of FTH and Bravery Project's upcoming "Evening of the Arts".


We are working on two more plays - one a teen dating violence play/musical, entitled, "I Have This Friend" and the other one is a 2 person play, "Drifted Off To Sleep". We feel very fortunate to have a very talented director/performer working with us on the latter, David Barker. David recently wrote and played himself and numerous other characters in "Dodging Bullets". He is a professor at ASU, a mime and a fight choreographer, in addition to being a talented director. This play should be ready by the first of 2010. All we do is in an effort to raise awareness, educate and prevent domestic violence.

Watch for future blogs to highlight "Evening of the Arts" on November 9 in Mesa, an opportunity for you to be entertained, enlightened and further the mission of Fix the Hurt and Bravery Project.

Old Friends, New Friends, Red Friends, Blue Friends

The past few weeks have brought bookings, travel and reconnecting with old friends. We now have 13 performances of "Domestic Violence, The Musical?" between Sept 16 through Nov 9, in locations from Wichita Falls, TX to Iwakuni, Japan. We are auditioning a Phoenix cast this week.

Equally exciting was my recent trip to Tyler, TX and Brownsville, TX. While in Tyler, some friends from about 25 years ago traveled to Tyler to renew and catch up. It was wonderful. My friends, Gayle, Diane, my Aunt Beulah, and Sharon traveled from Texarkana, Longview and Denton so that we could spend some time together. Gayle, Diane and Sharon and I were all three mothers to two girls. Carrie, Amy, Paige, Jennifer, Sonya and Shelly played with my Lori and Lisa. They were constant companions and playmates. While we reminised about our little girls, it was bittersweet, as I shared my feelings about Lisa's death.

I participated in two Defense Initiated Victim Outreach seminars, one in Tyler and one in Brownsville, with new friends - Pam, Marilyn, Stephanie, John and Dick. The DIVO program is in motion and in my opinion it won't slow down. It is truly a win-win for homicide survivor families and the court system as a whole. There were interesting discussions and limitless possibilities.

Fix the Hurt is anxious to work with all groups that support and enlist help for victims.

Bravery Project and Fix the Hurt are working together to bring an Evening of Arts to the East Valley, at Broadway Palm Dinner Theater on November 9. You will be hearing much more about this as time draws nigh.

Right now we are in the fundraising mode. It is a difficult time for all non-profits. But there are some generous individuals out there. John is writing grants, I am making phone calls and sending emails.

I will try to be more diligent in my blogging. Home for a while - no travel plans.

Domestic Violence The Musical

Things are a little slow as far as plays are concerned. They will start to pick up next month. We will be presenting selected short scenes from "Domestic Violence the Musical?" to potential donors for a fundraiser. This well be for the benefit of the Sojourner Center. The event will take place at a sponsor’s home in Paradise Valley.
www.sojournercenter.org



Efforts continue, with our attempt to find sponsors that will provide funds to take the cast of DVTM to locations outside the El Paso and Phoenix metropolitan areas. We have made appeals to many large corporations with little success, yet. We are committed to getting the word out and will not tire in our efforts.




We are working with Vickie Florschuetz , of the Bravery Project to put together a fundraiser in November that, if successful, will provide some funds for this and other important items. If you have not visited Vickie's web site, it is well-worth your time to do so. This talented artist has taken a unique approach in the effort to circumvent domestic abuse. Thanks goes out to our friend, Jim Winspear, for his generous donation in the form of a check to Fix The Hurt. We appreciate all of you out there that have been so supportive of our efforts to prevent this pandemic. http://www.braveryproject.org/



John says: As we deal with many of those we are required to deal with in life just remember “Always drink upstream of the herd”. Note: many of the things John says are from sayings friends send him from time to time. Thanks for remembering, “John likes to say things”