The Reveal: Part One

Before I get into the nuts and bolts of the Reveal, I wanted to say some final words regarding what happened last week between Kerry Fitzpatrick, the Admin of a Dead Files Discussion Group, and myself.  I am still appalled that an admin of a group supporting the show would act in the manner he did.  I was even more disturbed that he felt it necessary to drag my kids into the argument.  After he crossed that line, I was afraid he would do so again and decided to shut myself down.  It had been a stressful couple of weeks and Kerry's attack on my family's character was the final straw.  I put a lot of thought into everything and started to question whether or not the blog was helping.  After some soul searching I felt it was time to shut it down.  I truly thought the blog would fade away without a lot of notice, however I wasn't prepared for the response from so many of you.  It was humbling to see how many people cared.  Some of the private messages brought me to tears as people explained how us sharing our story gave them hope as well as the courage to speak up and get help.  That was the mission in sharing our story in the first place, helping those suffering in silence.

Amy Allan even chimed in and along with her encouragement and support, along with all of you, we decided to continue the blog.

Helping others is the mission and Kerry's comments or opinions should have no baring on that goal.  If he wants to be lower than whale crap on the ocean floor, that's his choice.  I will not let him steal hope.

I'm back in the saddle...our story continues.

The Reveal-Part One

The Reveal was scheduled for the evening and our day was filled with anxiety of what was to come.  Jennifer and I discussed one last time what we would do if Amy told us we needed to leave.  We remained true to our initial decision that we would leave as quickly as possible; that night if necessary.

The producers were trying to decide the best location to film it.  Since they wanted to film from several different angles, it meant multiple set ups. They also wanted the cameramen kind of in the shadows as not to distract Amy.  Additionally, they wanted us sitting across from each other.  Our house is small and would make shooting this way difficult.  We would have to move furniture if we used the living room and there wouldn't be enough space for the crew.  We couldn't use the dining room because it was too small and our table is round.  Outside wouldn't work either because of yapping coyotes and noisy frogs.  The idea of using the garage was thrown out.  It was a perfect idea.  Our garage is huge.  It's built to hold farm equipment, big trucks, and trailers.   I actually think you can see a tractor in the background behind me.  You can literally get 6 mid-size cars in it. .

While the crew was setting up, we were in one of the back bedrooms.  Our producer  was telling us how the reveal was going to go.  It was simple, Steve would start by introducing us and then Amy would talk about her walk.  I recall him saying that some of the things you could hear might be upsetting.  He told us that once Amy arrives, no one on the crew will talk to her unless it's very simple and short instructions.  We wouldn't meet Amy until we started and when we walk into the garage, we were advised not to speak to her unless she spoke to us first.  The reason for all this isn't for effect, it's a way to keep herself focused.  She has to be able to read us and everything surrounding us and the slightest shift could break her concentration.   The last thing he told us was that once they start filming, they won't stop unless it's absolutely necessary.  They will just let Amy talk and the reveal will flow at it's own pace.  They don't want to distract Amy's focus in any way.

We were very nervous when we headed for the garage.  The anxiety was a little overwhelming as Jennifer and I stopped, looked at each other, and she said, "This is it."  We kissed and stepped through the door into the garage.

Despite the amount of people in there, it was dead silence.  Amy's back was to us as we walked toward the table.  We both took our seats and Amy sightly smiled and looked as us.  It was a look I had never seen before, it truly felt she was looking into my soul.  It was sort of uncomfortable but calming in a way too.  Her eyes are just amazingly stunning and she is even more beautiful in person than on TV.   Jennifer and I knew that we were in the presence of someone with a gift, an individual who had an amazing ability to see what others couldn't.  It was like being in the presence of a Greek Goddess sent from Mt. Olympus and we were granted an audience.

We sat there for what felt like an eternity as we watched Amy taking notes at a feverish pace.  She would only pause long enough to look up at as us.  The executive producers checked with the crew to make sure everyone was in place and ready.

"Sound?"

"Sound ready."

"Lighting?"

"Lighting ready."

"Cameras?"

"Cameras ready."

"Lance, Jennifer?"

"We're good."

"Steve, Amy?"

"I'm ready", Steve replied and Amy replied with a quick nod.

The seriousness of everyone made it more evident that this was the real deal.  No smoke, no mirrors, no theatrics.  All bets were off and anything could happened was the feeling I had.

Finally, the producers gave the good to go signal and we were off.   Steve started off just as you see on TV.  He told a little about us and showed Amy picture of all of us.  I remember him saying something like, "Now Amy, either Lance and Jennifer are puttin' one over on us or they got some serious problems"  I remember thinking to myself, "what if she didn't see anything?  What if this was just some sort mental defect we all had, what if we're all really crazy."  I mean, how can you explain all the things that happened to us over the past 8 years.  It was like Steve said, "..it's out there."  It is and I ,myself, had the hardest time coming to grips with all that happened.

Amy was taking notes at even a more furious pace as she listened to Steve.  When she looked at the picture of all of us, it was like she was looking into the minds of all of us, getting to know us from the inside out.   My feeling was that if you are in a room with Amy and she is zoned in 100%,  you have no secrets.

Steve turned over to Amy to tell us about her walk.  This was it, the moment we're either confirmed crazy or validated.  I held Jennifer's hand under the table as she began to speak.

As much as we thought we were prepared for what we were going to hear, we weren't...not even close.