I've been feeling nostalgic recently.

I've continued to have some regular gigs. Sometimes working at the Braves baseball games, an occasional Zoom workshops. I've recently had several theater auditions. I travel to Columbus to perform in their hospital there sometimes. All of this is wonderful. However, I miss the regular hospital visits in Atlanta.

The expectation of getting over COVID and back to normal always seems to be just around the corner. However, we keep having more COVID spikes. That said, memories are fresh in my mind.

This fall marks the beginning of my 22nd year of being a medical clown. As I celebrate this time, I think about how I started as a medical clown. The work has given me an artistic outlet to perform, juggle, play music and do improv. Most importantly, this work has allowed me into some of the more intimate and vulnerable moments patients and families have in the hospital. As I think about my work over these years, I know I can continue this work for many more years. My goal is to keep doing this work long into the future.

My nostalgia has led me to stumble across some pictures of our work. Mainly photos with Vincenzo Tortorici. Vincenzo was with me when I began as part of the Big Apple Circus Clown Care Unit. He was instrumental in helping us establish hospital clowning in Atlanta. I always enjoyed working with him. He was very opinionated. He had strong ideas about what was good. He had stronger opinions about what was not good. Sometimes we agreed, other times we didn't. In my work with him, I always knew he respected me personally and professionally. He was a great partner. Vincenzo unexpectedly passed away in the summer of 2012.

These pictures of us working together remind me of another time. Vincenzo isn't with us anymore. However, the work continues. There will be more opportunities to bring joy and levity to our audiences wherever they are.

This picture is from our first year with Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta in 2000. It’s at Egleston, where Vincenzo was the Site Coordinator/Team Supervisor. After Vince passed away, the circus asked me to be site coordinator at Egleston and Team Supervisor.

This picture is from our team's 10th anniversary in 2010. If you look closely at the framed photo behind us, you will notice it's an image of the two of us taken about ten years earlier. We both try to match our expressions from the earlier photo.

I love this photo. I like the way we both are holding the ukulele. Vince is fingering a “D” chord on the neck of the uke.

Blast from the past… looking forward to the future.