"IT'S SO HARD TO SAY GOODBYE"

Our final group hug :(

The end of our 24,000+ mile tour had brought us to Akron, OH for 3 shows. A cast party on Friday night after the show and 2 shows on Saturday with an early flight home on Sunday. Gail was flying in on Friday to see the show but got held up in bad weather. Little did I know, she was living a scene from "Planes, Trains and Automobiles" to get to Ohio. Thank goodness she made it, just as we started the cast party! Boy we were excited to see her! Quentin flew from the table like Superman when he saw her.

We all had a great time just taking pictures and not thinking much about goodbye just yet, we still had 2 more shows on Saturday. Gails friend Gretchen who had come to the show in Toledo came to the afternoon show. More friends, Brenda and Larry came to the to the evening show. It was so nice to have friends with us for this final weekend. Their support, love and warmth was exactly what we needed at that time.

I admit I got pretty choked up during both shows. I tried so hard to carve the memory of my little man singing, dancing and perfoming into my brain. It has been an amazing trip, but thats for later. After each show we took pictures in the Green Room, Backstage, Hallway, and anywhere else they let us. It got pretty emotional for all of us as we left for the hotel and took our final pics there. It's really over!

Quentin went right back to school on Monday less the 2 hour delay for snow. Go figure we get snow in Virgia Beach! Nonetheless we are HOME and it is wonderful to be home. It's been a week or so and Q is loving school and I have put our Duffel Bags in the attic :) I must admit though we will miss the ROAD (a little) we will miss the friends/road family (a lot). It was amazing watching everyone grow a little more everyday on stage and off stage. And ....Me offstage, in other ways (not funny though). The stories we all shared and places we have seen will stay with us forever. I must give a Shout Out to everyone who came to see what I thought was an amazing show; eventhough I am biased. Thank you road Mom's for being the awesome "RENTS" that you are. Quentin and I will always remember what great fun we had. "It's so hard to say goodbye", and so I won't. We hope to see you again, we will keep in touch, we'll "be back soon".

Love ya,

John & Q

Friends in Akron, OH

Thank You Larry and Brenda for comming to see the show
Thank You Gretchen for coming all the way from Toledo

A blog from Mom!

I felt the need to write a little something from my perspective. It has been a long separation and I am so happy my boys are home, however, at the same time, I am so sad that this adventure is over for my son.

My daughter and I stayed home while Quentin and John went on this 7 month excursion. Someone along the way asked if I was jealous because my boys were on this outing, traveling and seeing the country. There is no way in the world I could be jealous! My son received an education that is priceless. This opportunity is something that only few get to experience and at such a young age. He has grown so much as an actor and a young man. I am so grateful! Grateful that my husband was able to join him in this experience, grateful for the other parents, for their kindness and their encouragement, grateful for the cast for their discipline and for the director for taking this chance on Quentin and giving him this unbelievable opportunity. I am so proud of the show and of everyone involved. Jealous – no! I am overwhelmed with pride, love and amazement. Thank you to all our friends and family!

10 memories from Mom's perspective:

• 5 am - coffee and blogspot/facebook - where is my baby boy today??
• Holding my breath while reading reviews.·
• Finding a "Google Alert" in my email inbox.·
• My hug in Pembroke, NC. It had been over 4 weeks since I had last seen him and the way that hug felt will stay with me forever.
• My (heart) belongs to Oliver and Tiny Tim! I had 2 Dickens boys!
• Mikey's rendition in sign language of Mr.Bumble's "lovey, chubby, hubby" – so funny!
• "I miss you Mommy" the ending of many conversations. I missed you too, more than life! I hope you know that.
• Reina and I flying to Reno, NV. Her final words "Thank you so much Mommy for taking me with you. I had a great time!"
• Reina explaining to the passenger next to her on the plane home from Reno that she (this passenger) was sitting next to a STAR's sister. This was the first of many intro's of "My brother's a star!"
• Arguing about how many inches he grew…In total he grew 3 inches!!!
  

Houghton, MI

Well, It's Happy 100 for the cast. Yup officially the 100th performance. The design team at the venue had made some amazing banners and posters. This time with our cast and kids on it.So how excited were we when he was able to get some for us. The house was so full I had to watch from the Green Room. It was a late show so we were able to get some pool time in the morning actually afternoon. We havent been able to get too much time for that either. We now have embarked on an extremely long 1082 mile ride to Reading, PA with a stop in Elyria, OH again. Yes, again. We were there just a little bit ago. We have a couple of real early bus calls. Might I add a snow storm is following us. We cant wait to see Gail soon. So I will post to you soon.

Love Ya,

John & Q

Merilleville, IN

Hello all, 7 days and counting. Totally enjoying a Golden Day, albeit a very cold day we managed to pick up Quentins Backugans and check out a movie with Sue and Mikey. We later met up with Missy and Colin and went searching for a restaurant "again" and showed off some new puchases. The show today went well and we even got free popcorn and soda with flashing our pass. That never happens! Directly after the show they held a Q & A with the cast and the kids. Who you know truly enjoy doing those.The kids would answer every question if you let them. Being that it was a 3 o' clock show. We returned to the hotel and walked to Red Lobster. Q has been begging to go for a while. He loves his crab legs. We also enjoyed that Rhianon and Chaz joined us for the festivities. Well we are off again in the morning. So I will blog to you soon.

Love Ya,
John & Q

Salisbury, MD

Hello Everyone, Oh Happy Day. Papa Nanny, Grandpa and Grandma all here. Unfortunately we had got into town much later than we had expected due to rain so, Q and I had literally 30 minutes to drop our stuff off and get something to eat. Thank goodness papa ran to Wendy's for us. We had left pretty early from Springfield so Q needed a quick shower. Anyway the hello's went pretty quick and back on the bus to the venue. The show went well and Gail's parents, Papa and Nanny sat there laughing along and getting choked up during "Where is Love" and "Who will Buy".It was fun watching them enjoy what I have been able to see for the past six months. I cant even begin to explain how proud Ive been but that's a story for another time. I truly loved having my little girl Reina sitting beside me during the show. She has also grown so much during this trip. Anyway, we were in an arena so being on the floor sometimes can be tough especially sitting behind tall people but it all worked out. Quentin was also really excited because Eric and Susan had also drove in to see the show. They where staying overnight in the same hotel so we all had planned to meat up there and go to Denny's for a late night breakfast. Unfortunately we had a 8:30am call the next morning for another 783 mile trek to Indiana. So it was short but sweet and nice to have a quick coffee and orange juice with the family before we headed off. It was a little sad saying bye but we are almost going home. With that being said I will blog to you later from Indiana. Check out Picasa Web Albums for new pics.




Love Ya,
John & Q

Springfield, MA

Hello, hope all is going well. We want to thank Cousin Pat and her friend, Melissa and her friend for coming to see the show in Springfield. They truly seemed to enjoy it. Q and myself met up with them in the lobby after the performance and you know Q is always happy to sign some autographs and say hello. Our stay in Springfield was short and sweet not too much to blog on. Although Jen who plays Colin’s understudy as Dodger went on for him today and she did a wonderful job. Colin is fine he just took the night off. She did have some relatives at the show so that was a bonus for her. We will be on our way to Salisbury, MD in the morning and cant wait to see Papa, Nanny, Grandma, Grandpa and of course Reina. We had hoped to hear from some of our friends from Hurrah but being this show is in the middle of the week we understand. Our stay in Maryland will also be a short one but the tour is almost over and oh what a trip it has been. We cant wait to get back home and into our normal routine what ever that may be. We still have quite a bit of miles left on the tour but truly about 7 more performances in 4 more states. Well that is about all I have for today. I will blog to you later.

Love Ya,

John & Q