By C.J. Wong

Carly Simon gave me a gift last night. She gave me the gift of her presence, her talents, her inner-beauty, her everything, but most of all she gave me the gift of the present. She gave me the gift of three hours of her presence, but more than that, she gave me the realization that it is possible to just be caught up in the moment.

There are very few times in my life when I am not over-analyzing the past and planning my next move. What should I do next? What more can I be doing? How can I get it all done? With so many things to think about and do, I rarely have a moment to enjoy the present. I often must stop and take a breath to really enjoy reading a book with my son, hug him and, know that he will soon be grown, so I must savor the moment, the present.

As Carly walked onto the stage of the historic Apollo Theatre in Harlem on that December evening, I felt the tears welling up in my eyes and falling down my cheeks as I finally had the opportunity to see her. It had been ten years since her last concert appearance, and even though my dad kindly went to the Tickemaster outlet and waited there to be the first in line to get me a ticket, they were gone. That year was one of the worst years of my life, as I had an extremely traumatic experience in my senior year of college, that I probably should have attempted more than a few sessions of therapy to overcome. All I wanted was to get a puppy and see Carly Simon in concert. That trauma forced events in my life to turn out differently than they may have, but as Carly would say behind each new door there was another door and I just kept following them to the point I am now.

So ten years later, it seemed like a dream come true when I heard that Carly was to perform a benefit concert with BeBe Winans for the Apollo Theatre renovation. It took us four hours to get there from Connecticut, but the woman behind us had traveled all the way from Scotland for this historic moment. Carly took the stage with BeBe and sang from her lovely Christmas album as well as a few of her hits. The big surprise came when I realized Carly brought along what seemed like her entire family to perform. In addition to T-Bone Wolk and Mindy Jostyn, out came Sally and Ben, her children, to sing Silent Night. Later, Livingston Taylor and Kate Taylor both took a turn. And, much to my surprise, Lucy Simon was there with her gorgeous daughter Julie. Carly fans know Julie from Julie Through the Glass and, of course, Lucy from her Broadway career and from The Simon Sisters days. If you are lucky, you may have found an album or two by Lucy from her solo days at a second hand record store or on Ebay. Rob Thomas even came out to sing New York City Christmas. The only extended family member missing was John Forte.

John Forte is spending fourteen years in a New Jersey federal prison for a foolish mistake and the mandatory minimum sentencing laws known as the Rockefeller Drug Laws. I don’t think there is anyone reading this who has not made a foolish mistake at a tender age, but most of us don’t have to spend years in prison for it. I urge you to read more about John Forte and the fight to release him and others incarcerated for what are often minor offences. John Forte is making the best of his situation, but it will depend on the citizens of this country to lobby for change.

So, thank you Carly. I had a wonderful evening with you and you extended family. It was a reminder to enjoy life in the moment.

Read more about John Forte http://www.carlysimon.com/forte/John_Forte.html

Read more about the Rockefeller Drug Laws

Drop the Rock http://www.droptherock.org/

Drugs and Human Rights http://www.hrw.org/campaigns/drugs/

C.J. Wong is the editor of Organic Family Magazine. She can be reached at cjwong8 at hotmail dot com