10 years, 5 months.
Dear Holly,
My favorite Saturdays are when we have nothing planned. Because then, “something” has room to happen.
I loved how one of our recent “nothing” Saturdays found your brother helping you create “butter slime” with a pack of special Play-Doh that somehow ended up at our house.
Life becomes a balance of consuming versus creating.
And maybe that’s what I like about Saturdays where nothing is planned: It forces us to be creative!
Love,
Daddy
Exactly 20 years ago at this moment, I know where I was and what I was doing. On a random Thursday night when The Office was just going to be a rerun anyway, I was casually showing up to a taping of CMT’s Crossroads at The Factory in Franklin, Tennessee because they needed extras in the audience. My inspiration was simply to see Lindsey Buckingham of Fleetwood Mac perform in a free concert.
As soon as I showed up, amongst the hundreds of others of extras who responded to the mass email invite, from hundreds of feet away I noticed someone who I perceived as a very pretty Puerto Rican girl. She seemed like she would be fun to be around.
I have no idea what likely silly thing I said to her to get her attention, but it worked. We talked the entire time and everything else around us just faded away into a blurry background.
But I do remember having a feeling that there was a decent chance my life would never be the same.
Twenty years later, to this very day, I was right.
And to quote one of my favorite songs by Fleetwood Mac, I would now say to that same girl, who turns out to not actually be Puerto Rican:
“You make loving fun.”
45 years old, today!
Dear Jill,
How did we not think of this sooner?…. We both just simply take off a day of work for your birthday and then go have fun while the kids are away at school. It’s that simple.
We drove just a little over on hour away to Huntsville as we checked out Bridge Street Town Centre for the first time. It contained all your “greatest hits”… from Starbucks to Barnes & Noble to a French macaron cafe to “cute little boutique shops”… it was totally your speed.
Not too far from there in Hampton Cove, we had lunch at Bloom Winery, where you enjoyed your glass of Strawberry Shortcake wine so much, I insisted we buy a bottle to take home. Because, after all, it is your birthday!
Then for dinner, due to the importance of not cooking or doing dishes on your birthday, our family had dinner just down the road from our house at Mentone Market and saw a beautiful sunset on the way home.
Back at the house, we took the time to enjoy the macarons, as well as a chocolate Eiffel Tower we bought earlier while shopping at Bridge Street.
To everyone else, it was just a random Tuesday. But for you, and for me, it was a very special day. Happy Birthday Jill!
Love,
Hubby
Exactly a week ago, the 7 show run of the “Jukebox Diner” came to an end; meaning I have now completed my adult debut as a “stage actor” at age 44. So I naturally ask myself, “What was my motivation? What inspired me to do that?”
The obvious motivation was knowing all the financial proceeds go to help fund the DeKalb County Children’s Advocacy Center; which is all the movitation needed.
But I think, from a psychological perspective, why was I personally driven to say “yes” without hesitation when being offered a role, then dedicate the next two months to memorizing my lines, going to rehearsals several times a week, and dedicating another two weeks to perform.
My answer: I am challenge-driven.
It makes me feel alive to be able to figure out how to adapt and overcome obstacles.
It makes me feel alive to be able to figure out how to entertain people; to make them laugh and to provide an environment where they can laugh, while seeing and connecting with other people they know in the audience.
It makes me feel alive to be able to figure out how to create a character and bring them to life, based on just lines in a script.
During each of the 7 performances, despite knowing my lines since the very first rehearsal, there was always the reality that I must be prepared to smoothly react if someone else forgot one of their lines- and likewise if I forgot a line myself.
There was also the fact that sometimes, in the moment, on the stage, I would suddenly come up with an idea potentially better way to deliver the line; whether it was my body language or simply by dramatically pausing before I spoke, to add tense in order to intensify the absurdity of the comedy.
And of course, there’s the fact that I was able to get to know an entire group of people in the process; who I wouldn’t have met otherwise.
What was my personal motivation in joining the cast of the DeKalb County Children’s Advocacy Center play this year?
I’m simply wired for it. Some might even say I am dramatic. I know my wife would.
To see my performances, check out the link below and look up the time stamps provided:
1:14:38 through 1:34:04
1:56:26 through 2:02:11
9 years, 9 months.
Dear Holly,
As you are now less than 90 days away from turning double digits on your birthday, I am noticing hints of “pre-teen” showing up.
This past Saturday morning as you enjoyed Kodiak Power Waffles for breakfast, you were tuned into the Dude Perfect channel on YouTube. In fact, it seems everyday this past week you have been laughing along to their videos.
With that being said, you’re still a little girl. You were so excited for Nonna to take you and your cousin Darla to Burger King so you could be one of the first to grab their new exclusive SpongeBob Squarepants kids’ meal!
Love,
Daddy
