FOR YOU 9

In all honesty, I think I might have drowned in myself and my sorrows this year if my mother hadn't been standing by me - helping to keep my head out from being under the water too long. Never before have I felt so much support. It's big things like helping with the rent when the student loan company hijacked my entire savings, or listening to me talk endlessly about my dreams for projects that make little sense to her, and little things like sending me shampoo and toilet paper, which she's been doing EVERY MONTH FOR THE LAST YEAR.

My mother has stood firmly by me ever since my decision to move to Seattle and pursue a life as an artist in 1998. Everything changed for us in 1998.

But what she has done this past year, as I've returned to a life of freelancing that is dedicated to my priority - MUSIC - has been unimaginable....and I cry in awe and thankfulness for her support almost daily.

Making jewelry and monkey cards doesn't begin to say or do enough, but it's what I have to give.

Never underestimate the power of a person's belief in something. And never underestimate the power of being believed in.