Be On Stage ~ Check

I think I was a junior in high school when I sat in the auditorium waiting for my number to be called. I don’t think it was a musical because I’m not sure at that time if I would have gone that far out on a limb. What I do know though is my nerves got the best of me.

My number was called but I was long gone ~ deciding that being in that season’s production at my high school was not that important to me.

For years I have said that someday I will be in a show ~ last night I graced the stage in Shrek the Musical and I am now able to check that off my bucket list.

Tom and I have found that our community theater is a very safe place. We enter those doors and there is a peace that comes ~ it’s been like that from the beginning of this new journey of ours. Our theater family is amazing and we feel very blessed by each and everyone of them. We also love that with every production we are involved in that family grows.

Last year at this time we were involved in Annie with the most amazing group of people. I often sit at the theater wondering how we did that so soon. What comes to me every time is that being at the theater allows us to step away from our lives for a bit ~ create a world that isn’t so painful. I think sometimes the reality of our new life needs to be stepped away from ~ I think without the theater things may be different for us.

Tom and I graced the stage together last night and there is no doubt our girls were present.  I imagine that they are sitting on the ledge, house left, above the sound board with huge smile on their faces and cheering us on. Tom thinks they are sitting on the catwalk, legs dangling, above stage left, watching and laughing at all that transpires. I’m sure they go back and forth depending on what is happening onstage.

They are who we sing to, who we dance for and our inspiration.

We were a theater family and still are. Tom, the cross dressing wolf, me, the tap dancing rat and Anna and Abigail, our girls, who inspire us every day to live this love-drenched-life to it’s fullest until we are all together again in Heaven…and then we will rock the stage there!

I wonder if I will have better moves and a better singing voice in Heaven?

Side note: At one point in this process I was considering stepping away from one of my dance numbers ~ the tap dancing rat number. I had missed some rehearsals due to my travels and I really felt that it would be a better number without me in it.

The morning I was going to email the director I couldn’t get them out of my ear.

“Mom, really, you’re going quit?!”

“Please don’t quit ~ this is going to be so great.”

“Susan, what do you always tell us about sticking to things once we start them.”

Needless to say I rocked the tap number last night ~ for my girls!