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Armand Beede's avatar

Chris Andrews: WHEW!

First, "Men-on-Pause" -- a great pun and a great value.

No woman, no person should go through what you suffered, and I am deeply sorry the abuse occurred, and I thank you from my heart that you share.

And so many reasons for you to have an uplifted spirit.

Chamber and symphony music is a wonderful, spiritual value and a great gift. I aspired to music, but without talent. I admire that you have this talent, and share your passion for Brahms, too Gustav Mahler, Dmitri Michaelovich Shostakovich . . .

With your other great gifts, you have the great gift of wit and humor.

You can look in the mirror today and see a deeply spiritual, highly gifted person, whom others admire deeply, as I do.

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Chris Andrews's avatar

Thank you Armand. I truly appreciate your reading my work.

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Patricia Coonan's avatar

What a beautiful piece, and what a brave beautiful woman!

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Andrew Winfield's avatar

Lovely writing and so open. I hope that writing provides clarity and catharsis.

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Chris Andrews's avatar

It does provide catharsis! It's good to revisit peak moments, I think, as they put more difficult times into perspective.

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EuphmanKB's avatar

Round Top is indeed a wonderfully unique performance venue. We’re (San Antonio Brass Band) participating in the second Texas Brass Fest in the same Round Top concert hall you so eloquently described, at the end of May. This is a unique opportunity for four Texas British style brass bands to gather and play incredibly challenging music and have an opportunity to socialize (Austin, Dallas, and Houston). Hoping we have just a portion of the musical experience you did. Fortunately the drive is only a couple of hours.

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Chris Andrews's avatar

It's my favorite festival ever, and I've been to many. Hope you have a wonderful time.

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David Holzman's avatar

Lovely writing. I assume your flute playing would be equally so, if not more so.

How far did you drive in those 17 hours?

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Chris Andrews's avatar

Hi car friend. I'm not sure how many miles that was - a lot! I blasted music the whole way. Spin Doctors, Tom Petty, Brahms, Cheryl Crow, Pete Seeger, Tchaikovsky...

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David Holzman's avatar

tht's quite a mix of music. I had a radio in the Falcon, sometimes it worked, sometimes it didn't. I can remember hearing Humphrey the Camel a couple of times, probably in Nevada.

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