A listener of E Street Radio called in the other day with the following story about going to a Bruce show in 2008 with her silent daughter. The story deserves to be heard by even more people so we're happy to share it with you, in Joanne Obara's own writing, here on Greasy Lake, just as another example of how Bruce's music can literally make a difference in people's lives.

In August 2008 I took my family of four which consists of my husband Frank, daughter Francesca (she doesn't speak) who was 8 at the time and my son Connor who was 6 to the show in Foxboro, Massachusetts. I originally had tickets for the show in July 2008 at Giant Stadium but got the dates mixed up (first time ever) and didn't get to see the show. After overcoming being hysterical, which my husband commented that I probably wouldn't be that upset if something happened to him, I happened to be searching for other shows I could possibly see since he wasn't playing at Giant Stadium for awhile and that's how we wound up in Foxboro.

As I was searching for tickets, the pit section opened up at Gillette Stadium so I asked my husband what he thought and since he never had pit tickets either, he said go for it. The concert was on a Saturday so I got a hotel and we left on our family road trip to see Bruce. We started out early Saturday for our drive, in downpour rain, to attend an outdoor concert. We were hopeful the rain would stop by the time the concert started.

By the time we made it to the hotel, the rain stopped. Sure enough as soon as we got into the stadium there was another down pour and there we all were in the pit section, looking as if someone poured buckets of water on us. Well after that, and a delayed start because apparently Bruce had trouble getting to Foxboro because of the rain, we had the greatest time.

Since my daughter doesn't speak, and happened to be standing by someone who had lots of keys attached to his belt, she started playing with them. He said something to her but I explained to him that she doesn't speak and he said that he worked backstage and when he went back there again, he'd get a copy of the set list for her (I was definitely more excited about it than she was). Never thinking that he would do this, but he did, he brought her back a copy of the set list. I didn't realize that Bruce still handwrites his set list which was even more exciting, again for me, but Francesca was excited too. Needless to say people started gathering around to see this list so I told the person who got it for her, I was going to put it away for now because it was still a little damp out from all the rain, and would have if framed for her. I never realized how close the pit gets you to the stage so we were able to take some really great pictures which I had framed together with the set list.

Since that concert, I've taken them to see Bruce at Penn State (another road trip) in May 2009 and at Giant Stadium in 2009 and to this day whenever my daughter hears Bruce, she can actually say part of his name. She loves the pictures and set list which is hanging so she sees it all the time, it's actually a big collection of photos, the concert tickets and set list. It cost a small fortune to have all this framed, but the end result was well worth it.

I guess the point to all this is how Bruce touches many lives, even those who can't speak, because she never forgets about the concerts and when she hears him on the radio, how great it is to hear her say his name and the connection she makes with him and his music. Hopefully when Bruce is touring again, I will make it a point of taking my family and we might even do another road trip!

Thank you, Joanne, for sharing your stories with the readers of Greasy Lake. It's worth remembering when we complain about setlists and whether things were better in the old days.