I was not surprised by the positive feedback. I was sickened by the negative.
And I'm trying not to let the Debby Downers of the world affect me. But sheesh, such anger and vitriol.
This line of thinking has been haunting me, because dang-it, life's too short to be spewing all this venom that some seem to relish in. As if I needed any proof, it reared its mortal head again this morning, after I got word that one of the most magical people I've ever met, Sally Woodson, one of the founders of the East Side/West Side Music Together in New York, suddenly died. Sally was a pied piper for young children, introducing them to the sounds and vibrations and love in music. My youngest child started when she was 10 weeks old, and I think her love of music, the singing that comes from deep inside, and her ability to keep a beat and open her mouth in tune is, in no small part, because of Sally, and her skills, wisdom and patience.
Her death came out of nowhere - she was diagnosed with cancer just three weeks ago, and it has metastasized so ferociously that they apparently aren't even sure yet where it started.
There are so many parents who owe so much to this wonderful woman - a woman with no children of her own, but with so many kids to her children. "These are my children," she once told me, when I asked about her own family. "And that's why I care so much about them."
And she did care. So very much. And we cared about her. When my youngest girl "graduated" after 11 semesters of Music Together, I was in a funk, because I knew I would no longer have my weekly songfest with Sally. She taught all of us about music and its joys. And now those who loved her are singing in sorrow.
Thank you Sally Woodson, for your pure joy, for your voice, for your heart. Every time every child who learned from you - thousands of them - sing or dance or beat a drum, they'll owe to you. And they won't just making music, they'll be making life come alive.
That's the backbeat, literally and figuratively, for me as we prep tonight's 11 p.m. newscast.
First up, another major storm bearing down on the mid-Atlantic on Wednesday, and the big unresolved question is how much snow the tri-state will get. Will it be a coastal storm alone (and don't-you-know the coasts don't need any more storms) or will we get a healthy dose of snow in New York City as well? Meteorologist Lee Goldberg is tracking the system and he'll have the latest, tonight at 11.
Also at 11, we're following developments in what may be the saddest story out there today - the orthodox Jewish couple that was killed in a hit and run accident. Their baby, who was delivered by C-section after the accident on Sunday morning, died today. Cops have now identified the driver of the car that hit their illegal livery cab, and then raced off with an unidentified passenger.
Why would someone take off after this horrendous accident? Police say his name is Julio Acevedo, 44, who served 10 years in prison for shooting and killing a man in 1989. Cops are after this guy, and we're on top of the story, at 11.
We'll also have any breaking news of the night, plus Laura Behnke (in for Rob Powers) with the night's sports. I hope you can join Sade Baderinwa and me, tonight at 11.
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