For my birthday, Kevin took me to the new Hale Theater in Sandy. First off, the whole theater felt like an enormous grandiose palace--I felt underdressed in my blouse and jeans, I should have been attending in a ballgown!
We watched the production Tuck Everlasting in the Jewelbox theater. The story was fresh for Kevin, but is an old friend to me. My mom read me the original novel by Natalie Babbitt when I was little, and we also read it in elementary school. I've seen both films based off the book. You could say the Tucks are old friends of mine. Yet with all this time ruminating on this story, the musical theater production struck my heart in a new way. All the musical numbers were spectacular, but "The Wheel"--a dialogue between Angus Tuck and Winnie Foster--was particularly special:
"It's a wheel, Winnie. A ripple in water
Girl to wife to mother, to daughter
Like all your kinfolk
Come and gone....
Can't stop rowing, growing, changing...
and moving on.
Once you drop an anchor, a boat gets stuck
and it would stay forever, just floating on top
watching life passing by, just floating on top
Show me how to climb back on the wheel
I'll be there, slick as a slingshot
Prepared to get off at the end
And share with someone my spot
You can't have living without dying
So you can't call this living what we've got.
We just are, we just be.
No before, no beyond.
A rowboat anchored in the middle of a pond
Don't be afraid of death, Winnie.
Be afraid of not being alive!
It's a wheel, a ripple in water
Girl to wife to mother, to daughter
Like all your kinfolk
come and gone...."
If you've read my blog before, you may have noticed a motif of aging, fear of change, etc. In my poetry. When I was little, I promised my parents I would be "the girl Peter Pan," I vowed to never grow up. Of course, that didn't happen. And of course time turners aren't real (what's with that?). With each year and with each birthday I marvel at how my life is changing, and--to be honest--I often fear what's to come! As Anne Shirley says, "Why can't things just remain as they are?"
As I listened to this duet, I became misty-eyed. I thought of how much I love being a wife and mother! If I had stayed that little Winnie Foster self, look at all I would have missed out on... Look at all the love I wouldn't have felt and all the people I would miss.
What's more, the lead actress that played Winnie was overcome with emotion as she came onto the stage for her final bow. The night we attended was the closing show, and it appeared that her little heart was busting as the cast and show she had come to love so much were moving on, like a ripple in her own journey of life. My heart went out to her and I wanted to weep with her--how difficult to leave this incredible performance behind! The actor that played Miles Tuck wrapped her in a big bear hug as they walked off stage. I will never know for sure, but I imagined him talking with her as Angus talks with Winnie--this show will always be a treasure in her memory, but there are other shows and future joys to experience, and life is worth living. We can't just "live like this forever."
I'm not completely over my longing to freeze time,
But the Tucks rejuvenated me with a love for
LIFE
and GROWTH
and BECOMING
and CHANGE.
I've gone from GIRL to WIFE to MOTHER, like all my kinfolk come and gone.
It's a wheel, it's a journey, and it's SO beautiful.
Now, before I finish, I have to acknowledge the GLORIOUS truth that there's life beyond death. Thanks to Jesus, there's eternal life much better than one that TreeGap New Hampshire spring could ever offer--through resurrection.
Death hath no sting because of HIM!
We watched the production Tuck Everlasting in the Jewelbox theater. The story was fresh for Kevin, but is an old friend to me. My mom read me the original novel by Natalie Babbitt when I was little, and we also read it in elementary school. I've seen both films based off the book. You could say the Tucks are old friends of mine. Yet with all this time ruminating on this story, the musical theater production struck my heart in a new way. All the musical numbers were spectacular, but "The Wheel"--a dialogue between Angus Tuck and Winnie Foster--was particularly special:
"It's a wheel, Winnie. A ripple in water
Girl to wife to mother, to daughter
Like all your kinfolk
Come and gone....
Can't stop rowing, growing, changing...
and moving on.
Once you drop an anchor, a boat gets stuck
and it would stay forever, just floating on top
watching life passing by, just floating on top
Show me how to climb back on the wheel
I'll be there, slick as a slingshot
Prepared to get off at the end
And share with someone my spot
You can't have living without dying
So you can't call this living what we've got.
We just are, we just be.
No before, no beyond.
A rowboat anchored in the middle of a pond
Don't be afraid of death, Winnie.
Be afraid of not being alive!
It's a wheel, a ripple in water
Girl to wife to mother, to daughter
Like all your kinfolk
come and gone...."
If you've read my blog before, you may have noticed a motif of aging, fear of change, etc. In my poetry. When I was little, I promised my parents I would be "the girl Peter Pan," I vowed to never grow up. Of course, that didn't happen. And of course time turners aren't real (what's with that?). With each year and with each birthday I marvel at how my life is changing, and--to be honest--I often fear what's to come! As Anne Shirley says, "Why can't things just remain as they are?"
As I listened to this duet, I became misty-eyed. I thought of how much I love being a wife and mother! If I had stayed that little Winnie Foster self, look at all I would have missed out on... Look at all the love I wouldn't have felt and all the people I would miss.
What's more, the lead actress that played Winnie was overcome with emotion as she came onto the stage for her final bow. The night we attended was the closing show, and it appeared that her little heart was busting as the cast and show she had come to love so much were moving on, like a ripple in her own journey of life. My heart went out to her and I wanted to weep with her--how difficult to leave this incredible performance behind! The actor that played Miles Tuck wrapped her in a big bear hug as they walked off stage. I will never know for sure, but I imagined him talking with her as Angus talks with Winnie--this show will always be a treasure in her memory, but there are other shows and future joys to experience, and life is worth living. We can't just "live like this forever."
I'm not completely over my longing to freeze time,
But the Tucks rejuvenated me with a love for
LIFE
and GROWTH
and BECOMING
and CHANGE.
I've gone from GIRL to WIFE to MOTHER, like all my kinfolk come and gone.
It's a wheel, it's a journey, and it's SO beautiful.
Now, before I finish, I have to acknowledge the GLORIOUS truth that there's life beyond death. Thanks to Jesus, there's eternal life much better than one that TreeGap New Hampshire spring could ever offer--through resurrection.
Death hath no sting because of HIM!
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