My kids and I refer to my hometown of Great Falls, Montana
as “The GF”. The GF is its own special
kind of interesting and funky. There are some things I love about The GF and
some things that I could for sure do without.
The wind, for instance, the wind is not my favorite. I could do without
the wind. And The GF is windy. Super windy.
Stupid windy. In Paint Your
Wagon, they call the wind Mariah. I do not call the wind Mariah, I call the
wind yuck. However, a big chunk of my
family battles the gales and still calls The GF home, which is perfect for me
because I get to visit. I get a little
taste here and there without having to batten down the hatches on a daily
basis.
Speaking of Musicals, (you know the drill by now if you have
been following my blog…see above…Paint Your Wagon…got it? OK, moving on) one of
my strongest and fondest memories of growing up in Great Falls was Summer Show
Case. Summer Show Case was the annual
Summer Musical series and for as long as I can remember, we had season tickets
and we all went. There were generally 4 or 5
offerings each summer and we went to them all. Sometimes twice even. The productions were well done and wonderful. I polled my family the other day. “Which was
your favorite?” So many to choose
from. All of the classics…so hard to
pick. For me, the clear winner,
Godspell. I remember going more than
once and I bought the album after and played it until the vinyl wore thin. My mom said “Fiddler”. I think my brother actually being in the
production probably tipped the scales for her. My sister, lover
of all things, struggled to choose just one, but did single out a moment in the
Sound of Music. A moment when the Magnificent Mary Moore marveled the crowd with a majestic rendition of Climb Every Mountain and received a standing ovation
mid performance. A moment not to be forgotten. And I believe my Dad would have chosen Man of LaMancha.
My brother chose the windmills as well.
Like father, like son. We
discussed it and agreed that my Dad would almost certainly have picked Man of
LaMancha and would have further singled out the
song “The Impossible Dream”. My Dad was
a dreamer for sure. And some of his
dreams were impossible. I remember him
telling me he often dreamed he could fly.
Me too. I dream I can fly too. Lots
of us do I think. Lot’s of us dream we
can fly. Lots of us dream impossible dreams.
It’s part of what makes dreams dreamy. And flying is one of my reoccurring
dreams. An impossible dream…at least in this lifetime.
I got a phone call from my Daughter a couple of mornings ago…
Daughter: Mom.
Me: What up Maggs?
Daughter: I missed my O-Chem final…
Me: Seriously?
Daughter: Yep.
Me: Oh Shoot.
Daughter: Yep.
For reals…she had missed the final exam for her Organic
Chemistry class. A clerical error. Date entered on the calendar months ago…incorrectly.
And so what to do now. Immediately it
was decided that an email would be sent to the teacher. Explain it, Own it, Ask for redemption,
Pray. Beyond that, nothing more to be
done but wait and see. K sera sera. And we were calm. No hysterics, no drama. What’s the worst that can happen? A failing grade. A drop in GPA. Not life threatening, barely life
altering. Worst case, time and money
lost. And in that moment it hit me.
Me: Oh my gosh,
Maggs, you are LIVING THE DREAM!!!
Daughter: Huh?
OK let me explain. I
have my Impossible Dream, my flying dream, but I also have a second reoccurring
dream. The one where I suddenly realize
that I am registered for a class that I have never attended and now today is
the final exam and I have no idea where the classroom is and I’m frantically
searching to find it. My sister has a
similar dream and I know of others as well.
I think it is a common reoccurring dream theme. Well, nightmare, really..
Me: You know, the dream…the miss the test dream, YOU ARE
LIVING IT!
And we started to laugh. Because, again, we both realized that
freaking out wasn’t going to solve anything.
And then another epiphany. I’m
not sure who thought it first…The Lemons. Here was a big huge Lemon and we were
doing it. Sad turned to funny. Nothing to do but laugh. And we did.
We laughed. And right then and there, it was decided. Matching tattoo’s. Of Lemons, of course. As a reminder. A reminder to Laugh.
And so we were hopeful, but realistic about the chances the
test would be taken, and so to pass the time, we went in search of lemons. We made a plan for our lemon tattoos. We will brand
ourselves with a tiny reminder. A little
lemon. A reminder to Laugh.
An hour or so later, the phone rang again…
Daughter: Mom.
Me: News?
Daughter: I’m on my way to campus. My professor said she had a rough day too and
I get to take the test if I can get there in about 5 minutes.
Me: Wow!
Daughter: Yep! Shoot,
I don’t have my ID. Oh phew, I have one
that will work. Gotta go.
And so, I waited for news and the next phone call…
Daughter: Mom.
Me: Yo Maggs, how did it go?
Daughter: Probably not great. Hands
were shaking and sweaty. But, some points are better than none.
Me: Agreed.
Daughter: Also, I didn’t have money for parking. Luckily, I didn’t get a ticket. Worst day ever.
Me: Are you kidding me?
You got to take your final, you got there in time, you had an ID that
worked, and you didn’t get a parking ticket!
BEST DAY EVER! Yesterday was worst
day ever. You just didn’t know it at the time!
Daughter: Oh yep good point!
We don’t know the results of the exam yet nor whether or not
the class was passed or failed. I asked my Daughter
this morning if she knew and she said the results have been posted online, but that she hasn’t
checked. I get it. I didn’t push or question
why. Checking won’t change the results.
The results will be the same after Christmas. After New Years. No rush. For now, better things to focus on. At least
for a bit. For just a bit, the focus will be on Family and Friends and Faith and Life
and Love and Lemons...And Dreams.
Live the Dream.
