In music, the word cadence is used to describe a point of resolution. Another way of putting it is that it's a point in a song where it sounds like it could stop without leaving the listener hanging.

For those who might wonder what became of some of the characters from my story Changing Keys, here's a look ten years into the future. There are minor TG characters, but that's all. Hope you all enjoy it.

Cadences
By Jillian

“It doesn’t seem like it’s possible,” sighed Annie.

Sarah, who had been silently crying, disagreed. “I don’t know. Sometimes I swear I feel as if a hundred years have passed. By the same token, sometimes I think she was here just yesterday.”

As the sun began to peek over the horizon, a silence gripped the group. As they did every year, they had gathered at the gravesite to honor their fallen sister. The sky grew slowly brighter and the only discernable sound was the occasional semi truck driving along the nearby highway.

The silence was broken when Shelly said, “Ya know, I’ve never seen a sunrise as beautiful and peaceful as it is here.”

Jen retorted, “Like you’ve seen that many sunrises?”

Looking indignant, Shelly responded, “Of course I have. It’s just that they’re usually when I’m on my way home from partying all night.”

This prompted a round of gentle laughter to ripple through the group. As it died down, Sarah took the lead, saying, “We love you and miss you Jill. I hope you’re in a good place and I’ll have the chance to join you there someday.”

The laughter that had so recently graced the cemetery was replaced by the sound of weeping, as the group paid their respects on this, the anniversary of the death of someone who had been a friend, a band mate, a lover, and a sister…Jill Tucker.

__________________

Following Jill’s death, Jen lost interest in music. She went through the motions of performing for a while because that’s what she did for a living, but everything that made playing special for her was gone, as if it had died with her sister. She eventually went so far as to take a ‘day job’ at the local ‘CD Warehouse’ and other than a few special occasions had stopped performing in bands entirely.

She was still extremely close with two of her old band mates in particular. Shelly, with whom she had always had an on again, off again romantic relationship, which had in recent years become a full time monogamous one.

Then there was Sarah, who had been Jill’s life partner. Following the accident that had taken her, Sarah changed her last name to Tucker in part to help her feel closer to her so recently departed soul mate. For her part, Jen had made sure to give Jill’s half of the house they shared to Sarah and they had lived together as sisters ever since.

Sarah had found a ‘calling’ where she could help others like Jill be whom they felt they needed to be and following the recent completion of her PhD in psychology had begun the process of setting up a practice, offering counseling services to those with gender identity issues.

Jen, who had struggled with finding a way in which she could also do something to help make the lives of others like her sister better, quickly offered to serve as receptionist and office manager for the new practice. That’s how she found herself making coffee and straightening magazines as they waited for the first patient of the day.

A buzzer sounded and in walked an extremely nervous looking young man. He tentatively made his way to the reception desk, where Jen had so recently returned having fulfilled her early morning office duties.

He spoke, fear and shame obvious in his voice, “Hi, I have a nine o’clock with Dr. Tucker?”

Jen tapped a few keys on the computer and then asked, “Jason Burns?”

“Yes, that’s me,” he said, sounding terrified that someone knew his name.

Sensing his extreme discomfort, Jen tried to ease his fears, “She’ll be right with you. Would you like some coffee while you wait? I’d be happy to get it for you.”

There was something in her voice that helped calm the young man because he visibly relaxed as he replied, “Sure, that’d be great.”

Jen got up from her desk and headed for the coffee maker. As she started to pour she asked, “Do you take cream or sugar?”

“Both, please,” he responded as he too found his way to what passed as a kitchenette to retrieve his coffee.

She turned to give him his cup and asked, “So is this your first time seeing a therapist?”

“That obvious, is it?”

“Nah, you just seem sort of nervous.” Trying to reassure him she added, “There’s really nothing to be afraid of. Sarah hasn’t actually shrunken any heads that I’m aware of and I’ve known her a very long time.” She tried to make sure he realized she was joking by giggling a bit. He nervously smiled and returned to the waiting area where he took a seat. He tried flipping through a couple of magazines, to no avail and then just drank his coffee while looking like he might expire from nervousness.

Just as he finished his coffee, Sarah poked her head out the door to her office. Seeing the young man and noting how obviously nervous he was, she came out into the waiting area and before he’d even noticed she was there, held out her hand and asked, “Are you Jason? I’m Dr. Tucker, but please call me Sarah.”

He reluctantly shook her hand and rose from his seat. “Nice to meet you, Sarah,” he offered.

“If you’ll follow me, we can get started, okay?” She led the way into her office, closing the door behind them once they had entered. “Why don’t we sit over here?” she asked, directing him toward the sofa.

He tentatively sat at one end of the couch and Sarah at the other. While he was looking straight ahead, Sarah had turned to face Jason. When he didn’t offer up any comments, she began by asking, “What brings you here, Jason?”

He glanced toward her then stared at his own lap. It took him a moment or two to finally muster a response. “Well,” he quietly began. “I, um…”

Interjecting to try and get him to open up, Sarah said, “That’s okay. Why don’t you just tell me a bit about yourself?”

It took a while, but eventually Jason began talking and before too long had even started to open up to her about his deepest secret…cross-dressing. As their session was drawing to a close, Sarah said, “You know, you really aren’t the first person to ever feel this way. It’s more common than you might think.”

She paused to read his response to what she was saying before continuing, “If you came here looking for a cure, I’m afraid you’ve come to the wrong place. But if you’re interested, I’ve very much like to help you become more comfortable with this aspect of your life.”

She then concluded with, “No one says you ever have to share this part of your life with anyone else, but my hope is that if you feel good enough about this aspect of yourself you won’t be afraid to tell someone you’re on an intimate level with about it. So why don’t we pick this back up next week?”

He let out a huge sigh and said, “Sure. Do I see the woman out front about setting up the next appointment?”

__________________

The salon business had been kind to Shelly of late. She had always worked in a shop, even when she was playing all the time, but in recent years she had ‘retired’ from the band business, calling it a ‘young girl’s game’ and had devoted herself to her work as a stylist.

She had taken the time to get her certification in electrolysis and now that was proving to be about half of her business. Her time with Jill had influenced her in a huge way, as she made a point to offer huge discounts on services for those who were seeking treatment for transgender issues. Since the community had become aware of her discount policy, the majority of her client base was TG.

“So what’s on your agenda after this?” she asked of Joanne as she zapped facial hairs for her client.

“I have a therapist appointment this afternoon. Other than that it’s a day off, which of course means shopping!” Joanne effused.

“You’re seeing Sarah Tucker, aren’t you?”

“Yeah,” Joanne replied as she winced from a particularly painful zap.

“She’s good, and I’m not just saying that because we’ve been friends forever.” Both of them began to giggle a bit, though Joanne was having trouble doing so while also holding still and occasionally jumping a bit from the jabs of pain.

“You two used to play in that band together, didn’t you?”

“Yes, along with Jen her receptionist and Jen’s sister Jill.”

“That’s the Jill that…” Joanne began but faded out, not entirely sure how to say what she was meaning.

“That tonight’s charity concert is named after, yeah.” As she said it, Shelly felt a wave of sadness wash over her.

______________________

Annie had gotten home from the sunrise gathering at Jill’s gravesite just in time to see off her husband Frank and the kids, then made her way to bed. Unlike the rest of the girls from ‘Starlust’, she was still actively trying to make a living as a musician. She’d been playing with Mike, who had played all of Starlust’s remaining jobs after Jill’s death, for the last two years.

You might think for her the upcoming reunion performance would be no big deal, but the truth was she was so excited she was nearly jumping out of her skin. While she normally played for money, this night was played for something else entirely.

When she rose about midday, her first order of business was to call Mike to confirm that everything was going to be ready for the evening’s performance. Once she was convinced that things were ready and there was nothing to worry about she got up and headed for Guitar Center to make sure they had the flyers about the charity show in a prominent place so they would have a chance at as big a crowd as possible.

Looking at the stack of flyers beside the register, she asked, “Have there been many of these picked up?”

“Yeah, more than I expected,” replied the manager as he checked out someone who came in for guitar strings. “You’ll see we also put one up on the door,” he added.

“That’s great. Thanks,” she said as she looked toward the front door and saw where he had taped one of the flyers up. “Be sure to come out tonight. It’s for a great cause and the band is outstanding.”

“I remember when you guys were working around town. Good sound, and a great stage show.”

“That’s us. I think we really could’ve been big time if it hadn’t been for the accident,” she added just before offering her farewells and heading out.

After doing the same at several area record and music stores it was time to pick the kids up from school. As they climbed in the van, Tommy, her oldest asked, “Do we get to come tonight?”

Turning to look at him in the back seat before pulling the vehicle back out on the road, she said, “I don’t see why not.” They rarely got to go hear mom play, but this was one of those times when they were being allowed to stay up late. They were seriously stoked.

___________________

Mike and Annie’s band was supplying the PA and lights for the charity show, since they would be playing the following night at the same establishment. That’s how he and a couple of the other guys from the group found themselves setting up equipment that afternoon.

“Anybody remember how to rough in EQ for girl singers?” Jimmy, the guy who was going to be running sound that evening, asked.

Mike threw in, “Well, you can drop everything below 100hz to nothin’ for a start.”

“Gee thanks,” Jimmy shot back sarcastically.

Things continued in that vein for almost an hour, until everything was ready to go. As they put away everything that would not be needed that night, Jimmy asked, “So how’d you wind up with those guys anyway?”

Mike was heading back toward the stage with a couple of beers in hand, which he set down on a table before taking a seat and gesturing for Jimmy to take the other one. After they’d each taken a drink, he replied, “Way back when, I had this really good friend…a guitar player…named Jack. He was Jen’s brother and over the years we’d played together in a lot of different bands.”

He took another sip and continued, “I’d always suspected there was something a little different about Jack, but figured ‘he’s a good player and a nice guy, so who cares?’, ya know?”

“So…?”

“This Jill person the concert is honoring? That was Jack.”

Jimmy nearly choked on his beer as the light bulb went on over his head. When he found his voice he asked, “So that’s…”

“Yup. When Jill died, I filled in for her while the band played out it’s bookings. It was a good enough band I probably would’ve stayed with them, had they decided to continue working. But, they took the death really hard. Annie’s the only one of them that still plays regularly.”

“How many years have they been doing this ‘reunion’ charity thing?”

“Every year, on the anniversary, so this is the tenth one.”

“And you’ve played with them every year?”

“Well yeah. It’s the least I can do for friends.” He downed the rest of his beer while looking at the stage.

_______________________

Shelly had been removing curlers from her customer’s hair for some time and while to most everyone in the shop she seemed to be listening to her client babble about some television show, the truth was that she’d been thinking about old friends…some still living, others dead…and the task that lay ahead of her that night.

The band had been essentially in retirement for nearly ten years, other than their annual appearance at the fund raiser, but after two weeks of rehearsals they were sounding almost as good as ever.

While she still spent a lot of time with Jen and Sarah since she lived with them after all, it had been quite some time since she’d seen Annie and in that respect she was really looking forward to the evening’s festivities.

What joy she found in reuniting with old friends however was tempered by the sadness of the anniversary they would be recognizing. The decade that had passed since Jill’s death had been hard on all of them, but each was finding her own way to get through it.

_______________________

Sarah was used to long days, but this one felt different. The anniversary had forced her to think about the loss of her soul mate. All those years since Jill had been taken from her and still a day didn’t go by without her feeling the need to cry.

After shedding a few tears, she forced herself to regain control of her emotions and prepared herself for her next task. A buzzer sounded and she pressed a button on the office intercom, “Yes?”

“Your four o’clock is here,” came a voice from the other end of the machine.

She took a deep breath to ensure she’d gotten herself back under control and then said, “Thanks, Jen. Send her in.”

As she waited for her next patient, she took several deep cleansing breaths to calm her emotions. By the time the door opened, she was once again ready to do her job.

“Hi Joanne, how’ve you been?” she asked of the person entering her office.

“Pretty good really. And yourself?” she asked.

“Good,” Sarah said as they made their way toward the seating area. “Have a seat and we’ll get down to business.”

Like most of the patients in her practice, Joanne was contemplating transition. She lived most of her life as John, but desperately wanted to become Joanne for real. She had been coming to see Sarah for counseling for nearly six months and had been spending most of her non-work time as Joanne.

The two of them sat facing each other on the couch. This was Sarah’s preferred position for talking with her patients because she felt it made it seem more like friends talking. Making them comfortable was of the utmost importance when trying to get people who have been hiding things their whole lives to open up.

After some chit-chat to help her re-open the connection between them, Sarah asked the question she’d been leading up to for the last several weeks, “Have you given any thought to your Real Life Test?”

There was a long pause as Joanne thought about her answer, “I think I’m ready.”

“That’s great news!” Sarah effused. “So when do you think you’ll be ready to start?”

“Well, I have talked some with my boss. His position is ‘If I can get the job done, he doesn’t care what I wear to work’. Of course, he doesn’t necessarily speak for my co-workers.”

“Does that scare you?”

“Oh, yes.”

“Good. I’d be worried if it didn’t.” Sarah reached out and grasped both of Joanne’s hands. She looked into her patient’s eyes and said, “You know it’s going to be hard. You know there are going to be people who just can’t accept what you’re doing.”

Pausing to allow that thought to sink in, she then continued, “You have to remember that you’re strong enough to get through this. You are a beautiful woman and it’s time you let the world see that.” She paused to look for a reaction.

When she had gotten a feel for how her previous statement had been received, she went on, “Don’t deny yourself what you’ve said you want more than anything out of fear.” Even as the words came out of her mouth, Sarah was fighting to suppress her own tears. Here she was encouraging this fragile person to take a chance that she knew full well had the potential to end up badly. She only had to look at her own life to know that.

______________________

Annie was getting ready for the evening when she was interrupted by her son. “Mom?” entered Tommy.

“Hey, sweetie,” she replied as she gestured for her son to enter. “What’s on your mind?”

“We get to go tonight, right?”

“Yes, I double checked with the manager and he says he’ll set up a special place for you kids and your dad right down front.”

Tommy’s eyes got wide and he exuded, “Cool!”

__________________

As Shelly finished up with her last client of the day, she was filled with a jumble of emotions. Sure, she was excited about playing again; there’s a kind of high when you’re playing in front of a crowd that’s unlike any other.

By the same token she was worried about how things were going to come off. Musicians are generally their own worst critics and she was no exception. All the little and not so little things that could possibly go wrong with the performance ran through her head. It was little wonder that she was nervous.

The butterflies seemed to multiply in her stomach as she drove home. Her nerves got so bad she actually got a bit nauseous.

Once that wave passed she wandered into Sarah’s room for a moment. She stood there staring at Jill’s old guitars, remembering how they had surprised her by fixing up the room for her, with all her ‘toys’ as she called them displayed on the wall. As all those memories flashed through her mind she began to settle down and remember exactly what the evening was all about.

Nerves back under control she made her way to her room and got changed for the concert. Then she turned on some music in the living room and just chilled while waiting for Sarah and Jen to come home.

__________________

As their session continued, Sarah found she had an increasingly difficult time focusing on what Joanne was saying. Instead her mind was wandering to a world of ‘what ifs’ and ‘whys’. She tried to cover her meanderings, but it had to be assumed that Joanne noticed.

Once her time with Joanne was up, she said her goodbyes before getting her things together so she could go home. On her way out the door she asked, “Ready Jen?”

“Yup,” she replied as she grabbed her purse and coat. As they pulled the door closed behind them, Jen added, “Oh, Kyle called. He said he’s sorry, but he and Cindy won’t be able to make it tonight. He’s got some competition he has to leave town for tonight.”

“Ah, the pitfalls of being a working musician. Remember those days?”

“Far too well.”

They walked out of the office together and got into the car. Along the way home Sarah found herself once again drifting off into that netherworld that was her memories.

“How am I ever going to make it through this tonight?” Sarah asked as much of herself as her companion.

Jen replied, “I don’t know. I always dread going to this thing, but I always love it once we’re there.”

“So is Shelly meeting us at the house?”

“Yeah, she was finishing up with her last about an hour ago, so she might even be there already.”

The remaining trip home forced them to drive by the spot where Jill’s accident had taken place. As they neared it, neither one seemed able to carry on a conversation, so they lapsed into silence for several minutes until finally after they’d passed the spot Jen said, “You know, I think she’d be really proud of you.

“You’re working so hard all the time to help others like her and as if that weren’t enough you organize this fundraiser every year. I know I’m proud of you,” she concluded, looking at Sarah with a mixture of pride and sadness in her eyes.

Sarah found it impossible to respond and as the silence grew longer all she could do was nod as she fought back the tears that yet again threatened to envelope her.

Once they arrived home Sarah headed straight for her bedroom, where she changed into something a little less office friendly before sitting down on the bed to look at the guitars on the wall. They had been Jill’s and ever since her death they had been displayed in the room they had shared as a sort of shrine.

______________________

Jen’s thoughts roared through her mind as she sat there, ‘God Jill, do you have any idea how much I miss you? The only thing I’m certain of in this world is that you know how much I love you,’ as tears overtook her.

As she slowly regained control of the waterworks, her thoughts continued, ‘Tonight is the charity thing at the club. The last few years, we’ve managed to raise a lot of money to help kids through their gender issues. The fact is, that’s the only good that’s come out of all this, but I’d still trade it all for a chance to have you back with us.’

Not realizing that she was speaking she said, “I miss you so much,” and lost control of her tears. She then stepped back from the grave to try to compose herself.

______________________

Sarah’s thoughts too rumbled, ‘I love you, Jill. A day doesn’t go by when I don’t say that at least once. Sometimes remembering our love is the only thing that keeps me sane.’ She was having some difficulty controlling her emotions and found that the flow of tears interrupted her train of thought.

Once her emotions were back under control she finished getting ready for the evening before sitting down on her bed and looking at the ‘shrine’ that graced her bedroom wall.

After studying the guitars hanging there for quite some time, she selected the Strat and put it in it’s case to get it ready for it’s trip that evening. Once the last latch was closed, she carried it into the living room where she joined Shelly, who was impatiently waiting on the other girls to be ready.

“About time,” Shelly commented dryly.

“Yeah, it’s tougher deciding which guitar to take than it is picking the right dress,” Sarah commented, tongue firmly planted in cheek.

Once Jen had joined them, they all made their way to the car and headed out. During the drive, the three of them were surprisingly subdued. This became even more obvious the closer they got to their destination.

Rather than entering through the front, the girls parked around back and as they were headed toward the door were stopped in their tracks by a ghost from their pasts.

Sarah was first to speak, “It gets me every year. I can’t just walk past the spot, ya know?”

Jen and Shelly both hugged their friend in a show of support. It was Shelly who managed a response first, “I know what you mean. This spot…I know it’s not where she…but…” unable to complete her thought, she finally allowed silence to overtake her.

After standing there looking at the spot on the concrete they knew to be where Jill had been found near death following the beating she took at the hands of those ‘ex-friends’ of hers, the three made their way to the back door of the club.

Waiting for them at the door were Frank and Annie. Once inside away from the cold, they all exchanged hugs.

Greetings dispensed with and the winter’s chill dispatched, Annie said, “It looks like a full house tonight.”

“Is Mike here yet?” Jen asked.

“Yeah, he’s been here since a little after noon setting up.”

Shelly then said, “Cool, then we’ll be able to start up soon.”

They all found there way into the storage/dressing room that they had been in so many times before. They were greeted by Mike, who saw them come in and gave each a hug.

“It’s been too long,” said Sarah as she returned his hug.

“That it has,” he replied. “So are we starting with ‘Lenny’?”

Shelly jumped in at this point, “Yeah. It’s only fitting that we start with Jill’s favorite.”

Silence again descended upon them as they waited for time to go up on stage to begin the evening’s festivities. Little was said before nine when they gathered for a quick moment of silent prayer and headed for the stage.

Mike went on first by himself, as he was assuming ‘announcer’ duties for the evening. He carried Jill’s old guitar on stage with him and set it on a stand over to one side of the stage. He approached the mic and a silence that was rarely heard in a nightclub fell over the audience.

“Ladies and gentlemen, I’d like to thank you all for coming out this evening. As you know by now, tonight you will be privy to a reunion of one of the finest bands I’ve ever heard. Plus, at the same time you get to help raise money for Full Spectrum, which is a phenomenal charity as I hope you’re all aware.

“I had the privilege of knowing Jill Tucker, to whom tonight is dedicated, and I can tell you a better musician you will not find anywhere. More important, a more loving person you will never find.”

He paused for a moment before concluding, “So please dig deep tonight folks, so we can raise a lot of money to help those like Jill find their way. Now, for your listening pleasure, I give you ‘Starlust’!”

Climbing the steps they could see that it was indeed a packed club. Sarah found herself overcome with emotion at the sight, knowing the reason. Once everyone had settled in with their instruments, Jen approached the microphone and said, “Good evening everyone.”

“So you know, our hosts have graciously offered up tonight’s entire door, plus all the bar profits to ‘Full Spectrum’, which is an area organization that helps people with sexual orientation and gender identity issues, through a number of different physical and mental health services. I’d like to thank you all for coming out to help support this cause.”

Once she stepped away from the microphone, she looked over at Mike who began the opening strains of the Stevie Ray classic ‘Lenny’. He played it with everything he could find within himself and when the band came in behind him, memories flooded into the minds of each of them.

Sarah recalled the incredible love she felt for Jill and Jill for her. She nearly had to stop playing as those memories brought her to tears mid-song.

Jen too was having some difficulty playing thanks to the lifetime of memories she had with Jill that ran through her heart and mind. As the song progressed each of the girls had some trouble playing their best, as they were all flooded with images from the past.

The ensemble’s deficiencies aside, whether real or imagined, the audience response was enthusiastic to put it mildly. They then launched immediately into the old Janet Jackson tune “Black Cat” to liven things up a bit. It too was greeted quite positively, as was everything they played that first set.

As they came down from the stage for their first break Shelly commented, “This used to seem a lot easier.”

Jen added, “Tell me about it.”

Only Mike and Annie seemed to have made it through that first set without feeling utterly exhausted, which was as much indicative of the fact that they had been actively playing while the others had been semi-retired. They sat as a group with Frank and the kids to try to catch their collective breath and re-hydrate themselves.

The kids in particular were thrilled to get the chance to sit with people they considered ‘rock stars’ and the star treatment they were giving everyone in the group seemed to do as much to eliminate their exhaustion as the rest did. By the end of the break everyone was feeling refreshed and ready to get back to it.

The second set went much the same as the first, with the exception that everyone managed to keep their emotions under control a bit better. That meant that they managed to get through the entire set without anything more than minor hiccups. Maybe it wasn’t quite up to the standard they had set for themselves all those years ago, but it was good.

Between the second and third sets, some of the crowd came up to the girls to compliment them on their performance. One group in particular that surprised the girls included one man they recognized as having been a member of the country band that had attacked Jill behind the very club in which they were playing.

Apprehension gripped them as one by one the girls slowly began to recognize him. Fortunately, any thoughts that he was present to cause trouble were dispelled quickly as Terry said, “Ya know, I don’t think I’ll ever be able to apologize enough for what we did to Jill.” Tears began trickling down his cheeks as he stood there waiting for the girls of Starlust to respond.

Did he expect them to absolve him? If so he was disappointed, as they couldn’t accept his apology and each in their own way ignored his presence. Annie and Mike simply looked directly at him silently. Shelly looked off toward the restrooms and eventually walked away without acknowledging him at all, while Jen and Sarah simply looked at their respective feet.

After a couple of moments of uncomfortable silence, Terry said, “I get it. I don’t deserve any kind of forgiveness. I know that. All I can do is offer my apology as honestly as I’m able.” After saying his peace, he slinked off into the crowd.

The remainder of the break was spent in silence, until just before time to return to the stage Sarah looked up from her drink to be greeted by her new patient from that morning, Jason Burns. He didn’t approach the group, but when he knew Sarah had seen him, he offered a small wave before wandering off into the crowd.

The third set went smoothly. Encouraged by their earlier performance the ensemble played with more confidence, which translated into a better performance. Their success began feeding itself, until by the end of the set they were sounding more like the band of old.

The fourth and final set of the evening was something special. Not only did each individual play with infinitely more confidence than at the start of the evening, but each of their musical voices joined with the others, creating something greater than the separate parts. They created real music.

By the time they reached the final song of the evening Sarah, Jen, and Shelly were all visibly saddened to know that their performance was almost over. Mike and Annie felt the same thing, though theirs wasn’t quite as visible to onlookers.

As Natalie Merchant’s “Wonder” began a bit of that sadness that had gripped the band seemed to spill over into the audience, as if they too knew that the magic to which they had been privy was about to come to an end.

When that final song came to an end the audience response was beyond enthusiastic. When Jen said, “Thank you all so much. You’ve been absolutely lovely this evening in your support not only for us but the Full Spectrum organization and it’s been a pleasure to play for you. We all hope to see you next year and thank you again for your support for this incredibly worthy organization.”

The crowd noise surged once again at the end of her speech, bringing another round of tears to each of the girls’ eyes. When they finally made their way down the stairs, they were greeted by more applause, thought this time it was somewhat different because of it’s source.

Several ladies stood near the steps to greet the band. The fact that Sarah, Jen, and in some cases Shelly knew each of them made their appreciation all the more precious.

“I can’t tell you how much this all means to us,” said Joanne as she came forward and gave each band member a tremendous hug.

If the girls thought they were done with the tears before that, they were proven wrong. By the time they’d each been treated to similar demonstrations of affection and appreciation from these ladies, everyone…band and audience alike…was weeping profusely.

As the last of the patrons filed out of the club, the band took up residence at a large table near the stage and were being served a last drink each. Mike was the first to speak, “Ladies, as always it’s been a true pleasure to spend the evening in your company.”

For his momentary lapse into sappiness, he was pelted with peanut shells from all around the table before Sarah became serious and spoke, “Guys, I can’t tell you how much your support here has meant to me.”

“We couldn’t do anything else, sis,” said Jen as she leaned over and gave Sarah a hug.

There was a chorus of agreements offered from around the table, followed by a final toast by Shelly, “In many ways, Jill helped us all find a cause to support and Sarah has helped us figure out how to do that. Here’s to both of you,” she said as she lifted her glass into the air. “To Jill. You were the greatest friend, band mate, lover, and sister anyone could have asked for. We will all always love you.”

Everyone raised their glasses and silently took a drink before setting them down on the table and slowly making their way toward the exit. No one needed to say anything about playing again next year. They all knew they would, for Jill and all the other Jills out there who needed help to become who they should be.