Geez, y'all – I really don't know how to respond to your wonderful songs and your lovely messages. So, here goes (and if I start gushing, blame it on Amos . . . ):

I am 4? years old, and in all my life, I can count on one hand the people I've let see the 'real' me (other than my dear mother, Dear Hubby and my children). I've always been a loner, afraid to allow anyone to know me too well, lest they disapprove of me. A few of you know the reasons why. Let's just say there are quite a few scars, physical and emotional, that I've carried around for many years.

But a strange thing happened four years ago . . . I found the Mudcat Cafe. And little by little, this unfamiliar person started showing herself, more and more; and lo and behold, even though she never planned it, she found friends from around the world. It was (and still is) very hard for her to accept that these folks give a damn about her – she's just not used to that at all. But, at the same time, she realizes how much they have given her. Gifts of love, acceptance, support, and a few kicks in bum that she needed to come out of a very hard shell she'd grown for so many years. She's found her voice, and perhaps even her soul again; and like a seed blown in from the prairie, she's taken root and is beginning to grow. The blossom may be small, but it's reaching for the sun a little more everyday.

I have no words to say how much you all mean to me. I carry each of you in my heart, and you all have brought joy into my life. And for someone who has not known what joy truly is for most of her life, you can't imagine what a gift it is.

'Thank you' seems such a small way of saying what I mean; but, I'm guessing you all know what I really mean.

Love, Áine