Annie and Ramblings…
Grace is singing in the bathroom. “Tomorrow, tomorrow, I love ya tomorrow, you’re always a day away!!”
We just returned from Annie the National Tour. Though it’s not Grace’s first play (she gets to see a lot because her brothers are performers) it was mine when I was little. I remember so clearly sitting in the audience, watching the girls on stage sing “It’s a hard knock life for us…” (Later I went on to write a play about kids in an orphanage. I’m sure Annie was my inspiration!)
I can’t remember if it was a school trip or if my mom took me or whether or not that was the moment a dream was birthed in me to someday be on stage and sing. All I know is that I sat mesmerized, especially at the girls who seemed so talented and like they were having so much fun. I went through my childhood with a secret dream of being on television, a child star. But I was too shy and no one knew, so that dreamed stayed hidden until high school where I joined the ensemble of my school play two years in a row. I wasn’t a great singer, and was too shy to sing a solo, though now that I’m older, I think if I had the confidence I might have been pretty good. Hind’s sight and all that!
My boys still beg me to audition. I’m still shy and insecure. Maybe some day, I tell them. Maybe.
Grace didn’t want to go tonight, though after a little bribery of Skittles, she thought it might be fun. In fact, she’s just as shy as I was when it comes to performing in front of a crowd. She has the desire to go up on stage, but when she gets there she freezes.
Maybe one day she’ll join her brothers on stage. Or she just might forge her own way with something totally unexpected. Either way, I will be there encouraging her dreams for tomorrow.
