Christmas

Forever Young

birthday 2014 aunt JeanI remember being 8. I never thought my birthday and Christmas would “never come”. I never thought about them at all. Time would creep by without my knowing. The year was always full with friends, family, school, performances, summer vacation and days of playing outside till the street lights came on. Suddenly, Thanksgiving would come and with it the first appearances of the Signs Of Christmas. (For my younger readers, there was a time when Halloween did not ring in the Christmas Season.) From that moment on I could not WAIT for My Birthday. Not a lot has changed. I still love My Birthday and wait anxiously for it. This has been a great year after a few really rough ones. Seasons really do change and feeling the warmth of Springtime after a long, hard winter has been amazing! I celebrated my birthday at a ladies’ tea with women who have provided immeasurable support throughout this incredible journey we call life. While my Swissters couldn’t get here and a few key players were missing, the women there reminded me of my connectedness. They reminded me that the only child with neither mother nor father is not alone but a part of a larger circle of love. My birthday was a celebration of life, survival, love and the wonderful thing that happens when friendships blossom and deepen! Those connections affirm that he who walks in the light of love is truly forever young. Happy Springtime, Happy Birthday, Hedreich!

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Nearly Like a Picture Print

baby chris santa2While December makes us all want to see the world through Christmas colored glasses, the downside is that we get our knickers in a bunch when something happens to make our family-friend diorama look less than Currier and Ives perfect. Given, perfidy hurts, especially when it’s an inside job.  But here’s the neat thing. EVERYTHING in life is about perspective. Time, distance, the angle and sometimes just a keen eye for finding beauty everywhere can switch on Hurt’s very own healing properties.  Yes, this month I got b…lindsided and my Christmas colored glasses flew off.  But; I have experienced the magical kindness of stranger-friends,  been carried in difficult moments, cheered on in achievement and mercilessly spoiled for my birthday (sogar ein Herz-zopf habe ich bekommen!!).  I even got a special-delivery belated Thanksgiving dinner delivered to my empty fridge when I returned home (her mom even made pie!).  Most of all, I have been able to sow seeds of love and friendship as well as reaping the benefits thereof. In all this and more I have been repeatedly reminded that I am loved and a part of a wonderful circle of friends and family–the lasting kind.  

Life is a road full of diverging paths. Sometimes family doesn’t feel like the Cleavers and some friendships aren’t meant to last forever. But those relationships that persevere make up the tapestry of our lives, there to drape us in warmth and comfort. During this Advent and Christmas season, I am thankful for many things but bountiful moments spent with family and friends are the wonderful gifts I treasure the most.

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Moving Forward, Looking Back

As with most of us, the coming year’s end is a time where we look back over the year, hopefully without too many regrets. It’s also the time where we feel the excitement of a new year fast approaching, ripe with new possibilities.

For the first time in almost two decades, Hedreich will be celebrating Thanksgiving, Christmas and the New Year on the home shores of Texas. After many seasons performing and singing on wonderful stages all over Europe, this year will be a quiet departure from the status quo, setting the stage for a whole new chapter. But in the meantime, she’ll be sharing sounds and images of performances gone by. Stop in over the next few weeks for a few highlights like this one. Here she is with Joe Sample and the Crusaders on Germany’s Ohne Filter back in the late 80s.

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TV, Concerts and More

If you haven’t had a chance to get to any live performances lately, you’ve had ample opportunity to catch a little of Hedreich’s “Girlfriends” (from Time Now) helping to make your mouth water on TeleZüri’s SwissDinner or even see her do “Song About…” live and very unplugged on TSO. Or maybe you’ve caught her own soulful “I Found Love” on Zürisee or heard her backing Gölä, Bligg and Xavier Naidoo on their latest releases. Missed all that too? Well check out the calendar, there’s more to come! In the mean time, get a copy of Time Now for Christmas. It’s the perfect gift and the ideal music for those snowy, romantic evenings.

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Advent–of Another Kind

Since there was probably no star shining over Chicago’s Gravity Studios at 2am, we thought we’d announce it here–the baby is born! No, not that baby. And maybe it’s reaching a little to compare the two. Still, we’re proud to announce that the CD is finished! Doug McBride did the mastering with mixing engeneer James Auwarter and his assistant Miela giving valuable inputs. The first couple of reactions have been more than positive and although sudden peace on earth is probably not imminent, you can expect a good sound and rich stories that will hopefully make your corner of the world a tiny bit brighter. We’ll keep you posted on availability, concerts and all that jazz.

On other fronts, Vienna with the Inspirational Singers was exactly that–inspirational. With good music, incredibly beautiful venues like Schonbrunn at Christmastime and the Viennese guildhall (pictured) it was a picture postcard perfect.
With that, we here at hedreich.com would like to wish you the best and brightest of holidays with hopes that the magic and miracle of a long ago birth will carry you through the season and on into a prosperous 2010. If we don’t see you at the Tschuggen Grand Hotel in Arosa, see you next year!

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