I did it

So I finally cried.

One of the big jokes at New Urban Arts leading up to all of this Coming Up Taller madness was that I wouldn't cry. I have the reputation for not being a crier here in a studio community where people can be sometimes be pretty visibly emotional.

First of all, I want to say, me not being a crier isn't some macho, I'm-a-tough-guy-that-doesn't-cry bullcrap, I just happen to not cry a lot. I do get really emotional and I'm as big a softy as anyone else.

So a very unofficial bet was on to see what would get me to finally cry in this last very intense and emotional week.

Sarah and I got back last night from the Artography conference last night (which itself merits a whole other blog entry once I get my head around it all) and we had a board meeting this morning.

Sarah and I summed up the last seven days for the board and Sarah described the party at New Urban Arts on November 4th the day of the ceremony. We did a live video feed from DC into the studio.

They started by showing a picture of the White House and explaining where Rosalia and I were and what a big deal it was, being invited to the White House on behalf of New Urban Arts.

Then when I got my computer set up, we jumped on the hotel's wireless, logged onto iChat and Rosalia and I talked with the people back at the studio and talked about the award and meeting Michelle Obama:

(live from DC)

Then, they had to hang up on us because live from England, on the other line, was Tyler!

A lot of the students in the room were pretty new and many of them had actually never met him and only had a passing understanding of who he is. So, as a way of introduction, before Tyler showed up on the screen, Peter asked the artist mentors and the students at New Urban Arts to raise their hands based on their age.

"Raise your hands if you're 14, if you're 15, 21...etc."

Then Peter follows that with [emphasis mine]:

"If you're 14, when you were 2 years old, Tyler was thinking of you."

"If you're 21, when Tyler was 21, he was thinking about starting this place."

Then Tyler (and Virginia) showed up on the screen....



and Sarah told the board that when his face appeared, the students at the studio yelled (unprompted):

"THANKS FOR THINKING OF US TYLER!!!!"

And I couldn't hold it back anymore.

As Sarah described this last part for the New Urban Arts board, the tears welled up in my eyes, an intense and beautiful week of pride, inspiration and joy just came out and I looked down, took off my glasses and wiped the tears from eyes.