Richard,

There are equivalents. I try not to, but it is useless. I failed her mostly by moving to the UK and not moving back home look after her a year later when I saw how thin she had become.
A stupid selfishness on my part, I can never forgive. Knowing that Andie would not want me to blame myself matters not a bit. I do and always will, but I don't let it eat me alive anymore as it did.

Thanks Susan and Katlaughing and others for encouraging me to do this.

Back to Andie and her music.

Andie was also nominated for Virginia Governor School Prgramm.

What a strange mixed adventure that was.   I think she was the first from the Fluvanna School to actually audtion for the vocal performance side. She had to do a Classical piece sebben crudele. ( Not Andie's voice, though I do have a VHS of her singing this.)

Also required to perform a popular piece, this is where my girl shows her quirky uniqueness. Where all the other girls dressed in glittering performance gowns were singing Memory from Cats or I Dreamed a Dream from Les Mis, Andie dressed as holey jeans and a boho top and sang Frank Mills from Hair, which put the two male judges in shock. The one female judge clearly loved it.

Andie made alternate.

I can't count the number of times, she was stopped and photographed by total strangers. When they heard her sing and she was always singing (walking through town, waiting in queue at theme parks and cinima, wherever. They just knew she was going to be famous someday and they wanted proof they saw her perform.

She applied, auditioned for and won small music scholarship to Longwood University where she studied vocal performance and communications with a focus on music public relations. She was determined to learn the ins and outs of self promotion. She left school with only 3 courses (2 general eds) to complete, because of her illness.

Enough for now. I need to do something else for distraction.