A Night To Shine! 2026

Perfect Day, Collective Soul with Sir Elton John. Does it get any better?

I listen to this song over and over again when I need a pick-me-up. Collective Soul, especially its eponymous second album, brought music back into my life, forever, after the shitshow known as the 80’s in music. This is a personal Top Ten musical artists for me. I have seen them maybe four times, could not love a band any more. Other standout songs, including “Gel”, “December” and “Better Now”, are also so uplifting.

And this song describes exactly what I experienced this day, February 13, 2026. Night to Shine is a complimentary event for people with special needs hosted by local churches around the world. The event is open to anyone living with disabilities, ages 14 and older. Each event is unique to its location, but some cornerstone activities included across all of them are a red carpet entrance complete with a warm welcome from a friendly crowd and paparazzi, hair and makeup stations, shoeshines, limousine rides, karaoke, gifts, a catered dinner, a Sensory Room, a Respite Room for parents and caregivers, dancing, and a crowning ceremony where every guest is honored as a King or a Queen – the way God sees them each and every day. For me the greatest joy is to see the very significant number of volunteers. When the current state of life gets you down, find something like this to renew your belief in humanity. It does still exist; it just doesn’t get the same coverage in social and traditional media. It doesn’t get the clicks.

A Perfect Day.

This is the third time doing this, and if God is my judge, maybe this gets me a few chips to get though those pearly gates… I have a lot to overcome. Here are the 2023 and 2024 stories (scheduling issues did not allow me to work the 2025 show)

The outfit is dictated by the requirement to wear this t-shirt, which I am proud to do! Also, sharing pictures on site is not something done for privacy purposes.

The event itself was amazing! I still, to this day, marvel about how easy it is for me to be accepted just as I am. There had to be 500 people at this event, as near as I could tell, I was the only one of “me” there. Zero judgement whatsoever (something I am generally fortunate not to have to deal with). That meant nothing in terms of the fun, wonderful conversations, joy and hugs I got and gave this evening.

In my role as a “buddy”, which entailed helping and/or doing whatever our guests wished to do, I spent most of my time with Kaitlin. She looked so pretty! She has downs and could not be more delightful. A lot of what I did was make sure she had a good experience by making sure her meal was right. She didn’t want as many french fries but wanted the right amount on her plate instead of just eating what she wanted, and she wanted someone from the kitchen to cut up her chicken, not one of us. I made sure she didn’t have ice in her water (she chokes on ice) and made sure she was well hydrated. It was my absolute honor to do all of this for her!

I helped make sure she had a great experience on the dance floor, and she also wanted to do karaoke. At one time, she was holding hands with a gentleman guest, not sure if they knew each other previously, which made her light up. The smile was, as they say, priceless!

I drove home with a full heart, both from our wonderful guests as well as the seamlessness of my existence at the event.

Give of yourself, time and again, you will be repaid exponentially.