A Mother is the Last to Know

Several weeks before Easter when I asked our son Jamie what was going on, he off-handedly said, "Well, we're having an Easter play at church."  This brought on a few questions, such as "Are you in it?"  (He was),  and "Who are you in the play?"  (An angel.)  I remembered that he had the role of Peter in a previous play, but he was very close-mouthed about his performance, so I talked to his wife Tammy who gave me rave reviews.

Then when we were at Jamie's and Tammy's house a couple of weeks ago, he mentioned that he had been busy at play practice lately.  After we got home, he again said a couple of times during our phone conversations that they were having an Easter play.  I didn't ask what it was about, assuming it was the traditional pageant, since he played an angel.

When the countdown was on and the last practice was scheduled, I asked him how it was going.  He sounded hopefully optimistic, then laughingly said a little self-consciously, "I wrote it."

"You WROTE it!" I exclaimed.  "Why didn't you tell me?"

He laughed again, and said, "I don't know."

"And I suppose you are directing it, too, as well as acting in it!"  Affirmative.

Finally, the play was over and I was curious to know how it went.  The only clues I could put together were comments to him from his Facebook friends. They used words like: Awsome; Fresh and funny; and "I love the theme of resurrection of dreams and desires."

Since my son was so self-deprecating, I questioned Tammy, and she told me what a mother's heart wanted to hear.  "Everyone loved it!" she exclaimed.  "They were laughing so hard in the funny parts; but there were serious parts, too," she said.  I could hear the note of pride in her voice when she related, "They said it was the best Easter play we've had in years!"

Jamie finally told me it was something of a blend and takeoff on It's a Wonderful Life and A Christmas Carol.  He said the main character chokes on a meatball, dies, then realizes he hasn't fulfilled his purpose, nor used his talents and abilities.  Evidently he gets a second chance, making an entertaining presentation with a serious message.

My son told me he had a message to go by the church office to pick something up the other day.  It was a gift card from the church for a steak dinner for him and his wife in appreciation of his work on the play. "The secretary said she really liked it," he admitted modestly.  Coming from him, that's saying a lot!