Heading towards Charlottesville, it was emotional just entering the Virginia border. That weighed heavy on all of us all day.
The roller coaster continues. Sheryl couldn't be with me tonight because of a previous commitment but luckily rock stars have rock star friends.
Tonight, I spoke outside the gorgeous Charlottesville pavilion, in front of a couple of thousand slightly inebriated college men (there to see the wonderful Robert Randolph and the Family Band) who were forced to sit through the opening act...me. Truly, it was one of the most challenging 20 minutes of my life. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw guys yawning, I heard kids saying "where's the music?", and I think I heard the "b" word.
I rushed through the speech and when I walked off the stage I immediately burst into tears. Not because I took anything personally but because it was so clear how much work is still to be done. Tonight served as a stark reminder that social change is a journey and I learned tonight that not every stop is going to be easy. Tonight certainly wasn't. But the lesson is that every step is necessary.
On the upside, within minutes, Chuck, our fabulous bus driver came over to tell me that there was a certain gentleman named Dennis out front who claimed to know me. When he told me who it was I flashed back immediately to the 7th grade and my first ever boyfriend. And there he was, sitting in the audience tonight with his wife and two kids and it was such a warm and wonderful moment. I asked the kids if they wanted to see what a rock-n-roll bus looked like and their eyes lit up, so I gave them "the tour." The visit ended with our signature handing over of the "Stop Global Warming" bracelets and a DVD copy of "An Inconvenient Truth." Time to take the next step....looking for the highway signs for Washington, DC.