Bread & Roses

I have been volunteering for Bread & Roses for many years and it is a huge joy in my life. I was a volunteer host for a show this week, which means I go with the musicians, make sure they have what they need, introduce them and talk about the mission of Bread 7 Roses. After each show I write a show report and a story about the performance. Here's my latest one. It made me so happy to be there.

Marin Services for Women is a wonderful healing center for women recovering drug and alcohol dependency. We met together in their "living room", a wonderful room with several comfortable, overstuffed couches and chairs. There were about 25 women who filed in after having an evening meeting. There were 3 women who had just arrived that day and were probably feeling a little nervous and scared about what the coming days would bring.

Norm Weintraub is a generous man. He is generous with his songwriting skills, his singing voice, his guitar playing and certainly with his feelings. He is very open and talks a lot about the people in his life and the reasons he writes the songs that he does. He tells us that most of his songs come to him through dreams. And he is a very attentive listener.

Norm sang several of his own songs that told wonderful stories of the relationships he has with the people in his life, his wife, his father, memories of childhood. He also sang some great songs from the past that everyone could sing along to , like "People Get Ready", "My Girl", and "Summer Breeze". Everyone in the room sang along, clapped their hands and had huge smiles on their faces. Listening to Norm sing was a very healing experience for everyone. They were so appreciative of his music and for him coming to spend an hour with them. We stayed in the room as each of the women said what they are grateful for before they all retired for the day. Norm and I shared with them the things we are grateful for and then we all joined hands and recited the Serenity Prayer. It was a very beautiful evening and I was grateful to be a part of it.