Reid My Mind

Today began the first leg of the Reid Road Trip which includes stops in:

• Cleveland, Ohio
• Louisville, Kentucky
• Johnstown, PA.

Of course all of the places you expect a brother from the Bronx, a sophisticated city sista and their two Diva’s in training to visit, right? Well why not? That’s a bit Bourgeois of you don’t you think?

Ok, well the trip is actually planned around the ACB Convention and Conference in Louisville and a required visit to Johnstown for PCB related business.

I had a very good experience a few years ago during an ACB Convention in Florida. This year I hope will be even better. Honestly, not so much because of the convention agenda, but rather this is our longest road trip with my wife captaining the ship.

Since the drive from the Poconos to Kentucky is over 11 hours, we decided to break up the drive both ways. The first destination is Cleveland, OH for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

The captain required we leave around3 – 3:30 AM. You see the Captain has a terrible allergy to traffic. Some of the symptoms include twitching, sudden punches to the steering wheel and occasional foul language.

As the Captain is number 1, and number 1 makes it so, the rest of the Reid crew was up and getting ready at 2 AM. Yes you heard me, 2 AM. No we weren’t going fly fishing or Quail hunting – things I imagine requires waking up at such an ungodly hour.

I think the ride was very good. A slight bit of traffic due to an over turned truck in Ohio, but we made good time even with two rest stops.

The Hall of Fame was pretty cool. They even have old Hip Hop fliers promoting some of the early parties featuring legendary artists like Afrika Bambatta, Treacherous Three, the Cold Crush Brothers and others. Those with a connection to early Hip Hop may recall the graffiti style art production of these fliers. I still appreciate the art and style put into the early marketing. Yes, a bit of Hip Hop geekdom!

Tomorrow we should arrive in Kentucky in the mid afternoon. Captain says we’re sailing at 8 AM. The crew is already turned in so I should probably try doing the same. Captain likes staying on schedule!

Last weekend, my family had the chance to accompany my oldest daughter to MIT in Boston, MA.

She was participating in the MIT Sparks program.

I figured I’ll take the recorder along and document the experience. Listen to our trip from my perspective in a bit over 9 minutes.

Today is my little girl’s 8^th birthday!

Every year around this time I think back to when she was born. This was during the same time I was noticing a big change in my vision. In fact, driving my wife to NYC to give birth to our daughter would be the last time I would drive a car.

I’m sure at first glance, these memories may seem quite sad. However, when I received my cancer diagnosis only a few weeks after Raven’s birth and my choices were between blindness and life, well it makes these celebrations even better!

Thanks to the use of a digital audio recorder, I found ways to capture the special moments I once believed I wouldn’t get the chance to enjoy!

I thought on this special day, I would share them with you. Take a listen to a mix of some Daddy Daughter moments with Raven and I.

I’m so fortunate and blessed to be around to enjoy these and hopefully many more to come!