So, last week, as I'm sure you remember I posted about the most amazing play ever written and how my wife devised this play and how everyone should see it cause it's super good and ground breaking and something that you won't see around here any time soon.
Well, here's the thing: I lied.
It's horrible.
no, just kidding, but could you imagine?! I'm on my blog all like, "My wife's play sucks eggs! DON'T SEE IT!" That would be super 'kward.
But here's the thing: I lied...or rather, I didn't know. You see, when I posted last week, well, I hadn't seen it. How could I?! It opened on Wednesday, I'm not magic! And so when I was pitching that YOU should see it, well, I was just being supportive, ya know, but I had no idea if this experimental, student written, high risk, wildly expensive (not Phantom expensive, but it blew the budget for my last ward road-show out of the water...'course that was 15 years ago and with the economy what it is...) play would be good, bad, fine, adequate, reasonable, turbulent, riveting, or dumb...I just had no idea. But that didn't stop me.
I saw it this week.
Lisa Clark can tell you, as the spouse of a Director, you sorta only hear how things are crazy and what's hard and what's not working. And Lisa Clark can tell you, any supportive spouse smiles and says, "That's just theater, honey. It's always wild and scary and then, it's wonderful...or at least, fine."
But I gotta tell you, I was sacred. This was a huge HUGE project and all that stuff I said about it being "experimental, student written, high risk" that's not me being funny...that's the real story, and what's worse my wife willingly laid her delicate neck on the chopping block in taking on this albatros and there were nights we both were lying in bed in the dark with four wide eyes playing out the flopping of this play. SO OF COURSE I WAS SUPPORTIVE! What else was I going to be?!
I saw it this week.
I had a sick feeling in my stomach, I mean, at this point what was I going to do?! I suppose I knew the songs, if things got real bad I guess I could jump up and lend my silky tenor to the cause, but even then what would it help? Sure, people's lives would be changed by the gorgeous sound coming from my throat, but the real problem would be the same; I can't be there every night. And so I hunkered down in my seat determined not to jump in unless a-b-s-o-l-u-t-e-l-y necessary.
When I was younger it was my greatest fear that I would marry a girl who thought she could sing. I could just picture her enthusiasm and always trying to get us "gigs" to sing together and I would have to stand next to her and watch her with her eyes closed leaning right up against the pitch but never quite getting there. And what could I do?! I would have to love that tone deaf dope and so I would stand next to her and a try not to make eye contact with the grimacing faces in the audience.
However, my real wife does not want to sing duets with me. She'll sing in church and has sung in a choir or two and, best of all, she sings to our kids, but she has a reasonable awareness to her vocal talent, just as I do...now where was I...oh yes, I was tamping down my golden godly voice to support the play...
The play... It was spell binding. It was captivating. I was both spellbound and captivated. The show is so good! It's all just storytelling, different people, different stories, spell binding, captivating, good.
But that's not what I want to write about (though you should click here and get yourself tickets before they are all gone...it closes and is gone forever on Saturday) what I want to write about is how hard it is to be married. At first it's not hard, at first it is wonderful and easy and then after the 'at first' part, you move to the next part...what is that? And how long does that last? Until the 'last part', I guess. So somewhere in that not beginning and not the ending you start to forget that this person sleeping next to you is this amazing creature, who is filled with hopes and aspirations and you start to see them as the person who forgot to throw your underwear in the dryer. I know, I know, you still know that they are amazing, but you make them amazing for stuff they do around the house or their smile or how after all these years they still like you, and that IS amazing. But you forget about the time before when you were two separate people and wanted to take on the whole world and you were pretty sure you would be done with that by 30 then you could retire and live off your interest because, really, that's all you need, you've never been greedy.
Anyways...I guess what I saying is that this week I got to see my wife accomplish something amazing and hard and thought provoking and new and it bubbled into this world through her brain and I was so proud and it reminded me of what an amazing person as a person she is and not just as my wife or the mother of my kids or housekeeper or science teacher or moral compass or pageant winner or party hostess or costume designer or sex goddess or short order cook or doctor MD or doctor PhD or pep talker or protector or comedian or Scattergories player or or or or...
Turns out, even with out my help, she is still amazing.
And I was amazed.
