No Greater Love

No Greater Love (NGL) is an American humanitarian, non-profit organization founded in 1971 by Carmella Laspada and is dedicated to providing programs such as wreath-layings, remembrance tributes, and memorial dedications, for those who have lost a loved one in the service to the country or by an act of terrorism. To date, NGL has dedicated 11 memorials located in Arlington National Cemetery and sponsors numerous other programs. The name is derived from the verse John 15:13 from the Bible.

Origin

As a White House Special Projects Aide during the Vietnam War, Ms. LaSpada organized a USO tour to Southeast Asia with her friend, the journalist and humorist, Art Buchwald. Visiting a military hospital, she met a battle-injured medic who had seen 35 men in his unit die before he himself was mortally wounded. The young man asked that she promise to do something so that his comrades and their grieving families would be remembered. She agreed, accepting from him a black scarf - a symbol of his unit - to seal her promise.

Love

Love is a variety of different feelings, states, and attitudes that ranges from interpersonal affection ("I love my mother") to pleasure ("I loved that meal"). It can refer to an emotion of a strong attraction and personal attachment. It can also be a virtue representing human kindness, compassion, and affection—"the unselfish loyal and benevolent concern for the good of another". It may also describe compassionate and affectionate actions towards other humans, one's self or animals.

Non-Western traditions have also distinguished variants or symbioses of these states. This diversity of uses and meanings combined with the complexity of the feelings involved makes love unusually difficult to consistently define, compared to other emotional states.

Love in its various forms acts as a major facilitator of interpersonal relationships and, owing to its central psychological importance, is one of the most common themes in the creative arts.

Love may be understood as a function to keep human beings together against menaces and to facilitate the continuation of the species.

Billie Holiday

Eleanora Fagan (April 7, 1915 – July 17, 1959), professionally known as Billie Holiday, was an American jazz musician and singer-songwriter with a career spanning nearly thirty years. Nicknamed "Lady Day" by her friend and music partner Lester Young, Holiday had a seminal influence on jazz music and pop singing. Her vocal style, strongly inspired by jazz instrumentalists, pioneered a new way of manipulating phrasing and tempo. Holiday was known for her vocal delivery and improvisation skills, which made up for her limited range and lack of formal music education.

After a turbulent childhood, Holiday began singing in nightclubs around Harlem. After being heard by producer John Hammond, who commended her voice, Holiday was signed to Brunswick Records in 1935. Collaborations with Teddy Wilson yielded the hit "What a Little Moonlight Can Do", which would later become a jazz standard. Throughout the 1930s and 1940s, Holiday booked mainstream success with labels such as Columbia Records and Decca Records. By the late 1940s, however, Holiday was beset with legal troubles and drug abuse. After a short prison sentence, Holiday performed a sold-out concert at Carnegie Hall. However, due to her drug and alcohol problems, her reputation deteriorated.

Colton Dixon

Michael Colton Dixon (born October 19, 1991) is an American singer from Murfreesboro, Tennessee. He placed seventh on the eleventh season of American Idol.

Early life

Colton Dixon was born Michael Colton Dixon on October 19, 1991, to parents Michael and Teresa Dixon. He was born and raised in a middle-class family in Murfreesboro, Tennessee, along with younger sister, Schyler. His father runs a face painting/air brush company, and his family has a Jack Russell dog named Ozzy, and a cat named Chloe. Besides being a choir member throughout high school, In 2008, he was an extra during the filming of "Hannah Montana: The Movie". He graduated from Middle Tennessee Christian School in 2010. He is a devout Christian, and has sung at several worship services including at Saddleback Church. He and Schyler are part of a Christian rock band called Messenger. He released his debut album A Messenger with EMI-CMG/Sparrow Records on January 29, 2013. His musical influences include Paramore, Thirty Seconds to Mars, Lifehouse, Evanescence, Switchfoot, Skillet, and The Fray.