Spiritual/Political/Philosophical Blog on the Nature of Truth and Falsehood and Heaven
|
|
| Sunny Days in Heaven Spiritual/Political/Philosophical Blog on the Nature of Truth and Falsehood and Heaven |
|
|
Friday, April 26, 2002 Yes, I am a Rich Man - didle dee, di deedle didle dum I saw my seventeen year old daughter perform last night in her school's spring musical, Fiddler on the Roof. She played, Chava, third daughter of Tevye who is bookish, marries a Russian, and is banished (but then reconciled with her father). My daughter is really the right age for the part and was perfectly cast. She gets to sing the Matchmaker song with her sisters in the show. She broke my heart. She was so convincing and powerful in her role that she broke my heart and brought me to tears in her passionate scenes with Tevye. And then provoked more tears (mostly in my right eye for some odd reason) at the end with the moment of reconciliation. The high school my daughter attends (Sacramento High, second oldest high school west of the Mississippi after Lowell in San Fran.) Is the "Fame" school of our fair city. It has a special program to attract young people in the performing Arts (although it isn't quite on the level of NYC's "Fame" school as seen on TV and in film). My daughter, Shana, went to this inner city school for that reason and has been in every theater production thus far. The show last night was fairly uneven as such things usually are in high school and college where you have a few students who are very talented, a number who are simply adequate, and a few who are quite bad. Shana is among the very good. And I say this not as an adoring parent (I am), but as a sharp critic (which I also am). But because she is very good, she wants very much to make Acting her life - which scares the heck out of me since I know better than anyone how difficult it can be to survive as an artist of any kind in this world. I think the world would be lucky to have her serve in this way, but the world is generally indifferent to the fates of young, beautiful, talented girls (and boys) who go to NY or LA to seek their fortunes. ("Golden lads and girls all must/ like chimney sweepers come to dust." Shakespeare meant something a little different, but I want her to remember the original sense of this, too.) Frankly, I get all blubbery over real beauty and especially when my daughter (my only child) is a part of such an event. She is absolutely the apple of my eye, and apart from my meetings with God and a few occasions with my wife, I have never known such constant, unmitigated joy and happiness than the hours I have passed in her company. She has never given me or my wife more than a day's worth of trouble her whole life. I know how God feels about us, his creatures, when I see how pure and altruistic my love for my child is. There is simply no greater, earthly joy I can think of than that of raising a child (in a good marriage). It's not simply seeing one's child do well that moves me to tears, though. When I see any young person demonstrate the kind of discipline, talent, persistence, and fortitude that is required for accomplishments to appear, I am deeply moved. Children are capable of so much and yet we seem to ask them for little (or guide them to nowhere). It is an amazing honor for me to be parent to a child, any child, but especially this child. My cup overfloweth. posted by Mark Butterworth | 1:30 PM | |
|
|
|
|
|||||||||
|
 |
||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||
