What Have We Been Doing?
It has been some time since we last shared an email update from our journey earth side. The update is timely considering it is Christmas and this feels like the yearly letter my aunt used to send to family and friends. However there is no way I can condense the past 10 years into one page. So, I have decided to work in bullet points. Follow up calls with questions will be answered in the order they are received.
"Sometimes you have more questions than answers..."
“It takes a lot of space to work through them and see what you’re made of on the other side.”
"We've laughed and cried about it all...but we're not quitting."
“Sharing what we’re compelled to do and what makes us feel alive is the motivation. When folks steps into that with us it’s a glorious perk.”
Buckle up and put your sweatpants on...
- 2008 We went on a dreadful trip to South Africa. Our first born was abducted. A miracle happened and we got her back. She will be 18 this December and is the wisest, most tender, humorous, strong, courageous, and thoughtful soul you will ever know. We her parents and her, will never be the same from that god awful trauma.
- 2009 We signed a record deal and moved to Nashville. We released our EP, Cabin Sessions. Had a brief radio tour, If All I Had went number one for a few weeks. Jennifer got bit by a tick at an Indigo Girls concert and took ill within two weeks of the bite. Jared lost his head for a bit and didn’t know whether he was coming or going. Jennifer goes to a weekend long life changing silent retreat.
- 2010 We moved back to Michigan. We continued to play music locally and settled back into Havilah Recovery work.
- 2011 We miscarried a precious daughter. We continued life one day at a time. Jennifer continued to home-school the girls and did consulting work on the side while battling the weird tick bite symptoms that didn’t seem to go away. I recreated myself and began to work from the opposite side of the brain and learned web design and development, graphic design, marketing, and IT.
- 2012 We continued playing and writing. We did a lot of face book live shows and opened our home to many in need of care and a listening ear. Learned we were pregnant with our son.
- 2013 Cohen Orion was born. A bright light from the North star. Two months postpartum Jennifer became gravely ill. She lost her ability to walk, speak, eat and more. She dwindled down to 96 pounds and two years and 21 doctors later we learned through some complex blood testing that she had an active Lyme disease along with handfuls of active co infections. We lost a lot this year. We also gained a lot.
- 2014 We continued to do life one day at a time. Staying present to all the moments and fighting to understand the upside-down world we found ourselves in. Were it not for our children Faith, Grace, and Cohen, we are not sure how we would still be here. Jared took off to a men’s retreat in the forest for two weeks and came back some form of Grizzly Adams and Alan Watts. The writing continues. The songs change. The muses hide themselves. Live shows happen.
- 2015 In May, Lyme disease is found, and treatment begins. The treatment plan is two years every two months at a clinic in KS. A miscarriage of another precious daughter happens. One day at a time Sweet Jesus. Jennifer spends most of her days in a wheelchair fighting to find her former self.
- 2016 August 24 the sauna purchased for Jennifer’s Lyme disease, burns the Adam’s house down. The girls get out just before the smoke takes over the entire home. Jared tries to take on the fire and nearly loses his life. Due to no rental home availability, we rent houses on the market. We moved a total of six times due to the homes selling once we moved into them. Jared finds he needs help for PTSD and does his best to show up to each day. Jennifer continues to muddle through learning a new way of life. The kids remain a priority and schooling, laughter, dance parties and play continue.
- 2017 We miscarry a son. In May we move back into our half-finished house. Insurance was running out and we could not handle one more move. The home smelled like the fire. It was a hard transition for all of us. Jennifer didn’t handle it well especially. The songwriting continues, the rehearsals and live shows continue. Music carries us through it all.
- 2018 Jennifer moves on to harder forms of treatment and the doctors discover her liver is failing and things are going from bad to worse. All types of treatments happen. Some FDA approved, some not so much. Rehearsals continue. Tears, laughter, dancing, homeschooling, kids, and persevering. New friends, some angels, some ghosts.
- 2019 Treatment continues, life continues, songwriting continues, plans for the next album are in discussion.
- 2020 The pandemic hits. In March Jennifer is near death. All we can gather; Lyme is eating her from the inside out. Later to discover it was a Covid variant. No one else got it, thank God for that, enough already. Songwriting continues, the muse returns, things are happening.
- 2021 In July we released our next album ‘Home.’ Songs that came from an opening deep inside the heart. A place that was under lock and key. The story is being told in a way it hasn’t been yet. This month our next album ‘Baby It’s You’ will be out. If you listen closely the story continues to be told in the lyrics and dancing notes. Faith will be 18 this year. Grace is 15 and Cohen will be 9. Faith loves all things photography, theater, friends, wit, music, and books. Grace loves art, humor, books, music and more. Cohen loves Minecraft, Star Wars, drumming and rock and roll. These three adore each other and have each other’s backs. We give thanks.
“Small town anthems about times both desperate and idyllic, but tempered with life-triggered, healthy agnosticism. There is joy and there is pain, and at its best Annagail shows you how to celebrate both.”
-Chad Wedeven // Stolen Wallpaper Music Review
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