Sheila Kelley Instagram – Meeting one’s heroes can be a mind altering experience. Take this past weekend… It was a magical tumble down into the wonderland of Washington DC where Saint Paddy’s Day met the luck of the Irish.🍀 Richard and I were invited to The White House to celebrate. On Thursday night, we attended an event at the Irish Embassy where we had the honor of meeting the Irish Ambassador and the Irish Taoiseach, @leovaradkar. Friday was at the East Wing, ending with a beautiful concert by @niallhoran. A reception followed and then an otherworldly performance at the Kennedy Center with Irish artists, dancers, poets, and singers. The moments of meeting my heroes happened twice. First with @speakerpelosi, a woman who has made such a powerful mark on the world. A woman of integrity strength and resilience in the face of utter insanity. To be in her presence was awe striking. I had no words! The words simply left my tongue. And I stood in front of her like a happy puppy with a smile on my face, tongue hanging out, until I faintly squeezed out, “You are phenomenal!” The second meeting of heroes moment was backstage at the Kennedy Center. When I realized that the person that had just been singing the James Vincent McMorrow version of the song Higher Love, was indeed actually @jamesvmcmorrow… Again, no words came. He said ,“Hello I’m James” and I said “yea…Vincent McMorrow” – like an idiot I finished his full name for him. And then finally breaking the awkward moment was my husband who came over and said “She’s a big fan.” I did finally speak to both of them and the rest of the evening with Nancy and James was terrific. In this strange time of history, with so much antagonism and chaos and cacophony of attention, it was such a beautiful experience to be grounded by these people who exemplify the genius and the humanity of what it means to be alive in these bodies at this time.