So I set out to get a single ticket––as Colin was away in the
Boston area doing a show (which some of you attended), but I was lucky enough
to get, through a lovely friend in the production office, two cancelled
tickets. So I asked Barb to come with me. She happily agreed to a wonderful
day, which was supposed to consist of a gorgeous two-hour drive, lovely
lunch, show, and a peaceful drive home. Or so we thought.
Cut to: Our precious friend and sister Cheryl phoning me last
night from Stratford. She was breathless and clearly in pain. She, her husband,
and their daughter had been in a horrific car accident, but mercifully, they
were alive and functioning.
They were stopped at a traffic light and some guy—who claimed the
sun was in his eyes—came barreling into them, knocking them into another car and
into the intersection and into yet another car. Their car was totally destroyed,
but they came away relatively unscathed. The air bags beat them to a pulp, but
ultimately saved their lives. Their daughter was belted and sleeping in the
back seat. She woke up, crisis over, to the reek of the air bag gas. Cheryl and
Bill were taken to the hospital where they were released in considerable pain,
but alive and well ... and as a result ... in the mood for celebration.
The second and tinier miracle was that Barb and I were scheduled
to go up the next day to see the final show of Jesus Christ Superstar. Cheryl and Bill of course had no way home
and were elated that we were, in a last minute twist of fate, coming right to
them! We said that we would chuck the show and simply come up to gather them
and their belongings and take them home. Cheryl wouldn’t hear of it. “YOU MUST
SEE THIS SHOW!” she said between halting breaths. She insisted that they would
simply sleep and chill and gather their resources while we attended the show,
which they did.
So we saw the show. And it was a stupendous production. I feel I
am authorized to say that given the number of JCSuperstars I have seen on stage
and in film. I urge you to see this show on Broadway if you can.
Spent from the production and spent from the wild and challenging
events of the last few weeks, we picked them up, took them to the wreck yard,
emptied the contents of their shattered car into Barb’s, and said our thanks
and farewell to this little gem “Breezy” who had kept them safe these 12 years
and held its own right to the end, honouring its owners’ years of appreciation.
We all celebrated the miracle of their survival. It hit me again
like a ton of bricks when I saw the car in the scrapyard, broken and finished.
We swarmed its broken frame, each of us in our own way giving thanks for their
safe escape.
When Barb and I set out to get them, all shaky and full of emotion,
we imagined surrounding our car in blue light against impact and then imaged a
white light around that one. We always do this when either of us feels any
weird or scary energy on the road. Barb said that she had read that there was
another huge meteor headed towards earth this week and, although it was not
scheduled to hit our green home, it was coming close enough to shake things up,
to make unusual and bizarre things happen. True to its word in our corner of
the world, it shook our dearest friends to the very foundation of their being
and brought my Mom some potentially bad news, all in this one day.
But the real miracle was everyone’s reaction to these events. My
Mom rolled with this punch in her can-do way, and even joked about it. Cheryl
and her family simply looked at their car, brimming with emotion, but
overflowing with thanks and gratitude. No anger. No regret. Just a breath of
life sucked into their bruised lungs that told them, despite the searing pain,
that they were alive.
Mary Magdalene offered our soundtrack. “Try not to get worried, try not to hang onto problems that upset you,
don’t you know, everything’s alright now, everything’s fine, and I want you to
sleep well tonight. Let the world turn without you tonight. Close your eyes,
close your eyes and forget all about us tonight.”
Barbara: Deb has captured this extraordinary day in all its
amazing detail: miracles, meteors and Magdalene, indeed. The last 24 hours have
been astounding in their beautiful mayhem. Completely mind-boggling drama, and
completely soul-warming communal love. We felt so lucky and calmed to be
together and safe on the one hand, and so lucky and stimulated to be able to
celebrate creative excellence on the other.
I don’t wish days like these on any of you, but I do wish—given that
days like these happen on, well, a daily basis—that you are surrounded by just
such love and light. And, more importantly, that you see it. xo
