Last September my father suddenly and unexpectedly passed away. I remember sitting by his bedside in the hospital with all sorts of intense emotions and thoughts, but one thing kept bouncing around in my mind more than any other. Being the youngest child in the family and being a bit career obsessed, I had yet to have any children. We always had an excuse… album release, tour, studio time, repeat. In fact, we were in the middle of setting up our winter tour with plans for a spring album release as I sat next to him thinking, he'll never get to meet my kids, they'll never get to call him Papa. It was a terribly empty feeling. He was an amazing grandfather to my nieces and nephews, and it made me sad to think he'll never get to be that for my family. Well, I think my dad was listening to me in the hospital that night. Two weeks after we said goodbye to him, I woke up with a funny feeling. At first we chalked it up to depression, but soon came to realize it was anything but. I was pregnant. Quite the surprise because we weren't even trying to have a baby. And even more of a gift because I realized my baby was with me in the hospital at my dad's bedside. While all the other grandchildren got to experience the greatness of my father, my son was the only grandchild who got to be with him as he said goodbye. I truly believe he is a gift from my father. We wanted to share this story and a picture of me with our little one, and let you all know we miss you, we miss the road, and we miss sharing our art and music with you. This time for us has been one of great sadness and now great joy as we start our new family. mr. Gnome is far from done. We have a new album and tour plans all set to go, but have to wait until this bun is done cooking and ready to be our lil road dog. In the meantime, your support means the world to us and we thank you for all of the kind emails and love we've been receiving. They really mean so much to us. Can't wait to catch back up with all of you.
Photo by Sam Meister
Set Design and Wardrobe by Sam Meister & Barb Meister