The Truck Driving Mamas Finally Hit the Road!

 
Our long awaited truck trip is getting back into gear. We had to take some time off because our senior, Margarette tended to her husband after he suffered a heart attack. I am glad to say that he is doing better, and Margarette is ready to get on the road. So Twilight Wish, myself, AARP and everyone else who is necessary to get this trip started are back in the saddle. We are on the phone, meeting face-to-face and coming up with the ideas and energy necessary to get this truck to roll out of Doylestown in June. That is the plan, and we are feeling great about it.

I do have to say, though, that I enjoyed this winter. I liked having the snow on the ground for months. It kept the mud down! Everything stayed white for so long, it was very pretty. I took the time to settle in, rest and regroup. I released my Truck Driving Mama CD in December and we threw a wonderful release party/concert in January. We had a great time. For me winter is a time to sit back and not push so hard. It is a time to reflect on the years gone by and the ones coming up, what is it that I really want to do in the coming year? I'm not talking New Year's Resolutions, though occasionally they work out. I mean bigger things than that. Who do I want to be a year from now? How do I want to be different than I am right now? Do I want to be doing different things? Do I want to be doing things in a different way? If so, what can I do in the days and months to come to start bringing about that change?

As I asked myself these questions this winter, one big answer is that I want to have given Margarette the ride of her life on a great big, beautiful truck. I want this trip to impact more people than just those of us directly involved. I want it to positively impact
women truckers nationwide. I want it to positively impact women in general, as well as women who have come before me. If this trip will help a woman feel that she can follow her dream and make it come true, and she puts that dream into action, then this trip is a success. The more women... the more people who are affected that way, the more successful the trip will be.
          
My job is to do everything I can to get this truck on the road and to see to it that we all stay safe and have as wonderful a time as possible. That is as much as I can do. It is up to everyone else, and the universe in general to do all that other stuff. It is up to those of you who know about this trip to tell your friends. Get them excited. As we put it together, find out where we will be stopping and come out and say "Hi". Pick up some great music. Maybe I'll sing a couple of songs in the restaurants along the way. You can never tell.

To help us get this truck rolling, consider giving a donation. Our costs with this trip will be higher than most wish grants. We have fuel costs, meal and hotel costs and all the usual truck and travel costs. To donate click on one of my donate button or go to
Twilight Wish Foundation and fulfill Margarette's wish. For larger gifts and corporate sponsorship, check out the sponsorship schedule on this website by rolling over the truck trip tab and clicking on the sponsorship option. Your company can get some great exposure on our big, beautiful Pete. These options are also available at twilightwish.org.

Thanks, Annabella

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Interview With Annabella Wood

Interview With Annabella Wood, the Truck Drivin' Mama!
By Edie Weinstein

In the 5th decade of her adventure-filled life, she is a petite woman, blond hair to her collar. Her eyes twinkle and her smile broadens when she speaks about two of her many passions: music and truck driving. Interesting combination? Annabella Wood, raised in California is now a Pennsylvania resident, who makes her living as a handy-woman and her dream is to be an alt-country star, singing on stages world wide. She certainly has, in musical parlance “earned her chops”. For 30 years, she was behind the wheel of a big rig, driving and singing her way cross country. Much of her music has a spiritual bent to it, with an interfaith flavor. She sings of lessons learned while en route to her destinations, and she is an inspiration to all who know her, myself included. Her voice has contributed to The Common Ground Fellowship Choir and she can be heard at Circle of Miracles in New Britain, PA most Sunday mornings. In short order, I predict, that she will be heard on radio stations world wide.

She said; “I've always wanted to drive; I knew that from age 8 that I wanted to drive.” Her parents; highly educated people, had other ideas for their strong willed daughter and so she attended a college prep high school. After graduating, her next educational venue was truck driving school. She laughingly tells the story that at age 14, she called a truck driving school and said “I wanna be a truck driver” and was sent info. Her father; “ a wonderful, loving man, was mortified.” Her mother “thought it was the greatest thing in the world.” It clearly was “not my father's dream for his little girl.” For awhile her parents thought it was a phase she would grow out of. Her father has never accompanied her, but her Mom has and actually got her permit and Annabella let her drive the rig.

She left the highways and byways in 2002, went back in 2004 during summer break from Bryn Mawr College. (Quantum Physics Theory) She earned a BA in Religion, Spirituality and Holistics from Union Institute and University in Vermont. “Part of me misses the road, loving the rumble of the road, the sound, even the smell, and part likes having a home. I sleep better in a truck than in a bed.”

When exploring the concept of inspiration to write songs, she enthusiastically described the process; “Unwritten songs are hanging down from the heavens and you bump into one. I was receiving all this input and running into all those songs. It was a very prolific time. I had 100 songs copyrighted.” Some would come to her completely formed. Some were inspired by bumper stickers as well as people she would meet along the way.

Annabella is taking on a magnificent project that shows her generous nature as well. She is teaming up with Twilight Wish Foundation which grants wishes for seniors. She is hopping up into the driver's seat again, taking a 6000 mile journey from PA to L.A. (Los Angeles), in the company of her Pomeranian and an 82 year old woman named Marguerite who always wanted to drive a truck. Although she will not actually be driving, Marguerite will be in the passenger's seat, leaving the driving in Annabella's capable hands. Wonder what songs will come from that road trip? The journey is scheduled to commence on August 15th from the parking lot of Twilight Wish in Doylestown, PA.

In order to meet expenses, $10,000 needs to be raised. Contributions can be made by going to www.twilightwish.org If you send payment to the address: P.O. Box 1042 Doylestown, PA 18901, all the money goes to the truck trip, rather than if donations are made via Paypal, since then a fee is levied.

If you want to make a large donation of $1000 or more, then your name or the name of your company will be on trailer, which will be all gussied up. AARP is doing a media blitz and will be filming a documentary of it.  

Edie Weinstein (a.k.a. Bliss Mistress) is an internationally known, sought after, colorfully creative writer and speaker whose passion is to help people live rich, full, juicy lives. www.liveinjoy.org