waterworks

my talented niece, 

with flowers after a 2003 performance

This afternoon, the kids, my mom and I went to see a local junior production of the musical Honk, a re-telling of the ugly duckling story. A friend of Cal's from school was performing, so we went to check out the show. It was entirely enjoyable, a just-right way to spend this rainy/snowy Sunday.

As happens to me every time I see kids doing something great with their talents, once the stagelights go up and those wonderful little people are there in front of me, I begin to unsuccessfully fight back the tears. The first time this happened was a number of years ago, when my niece, Lulu, was dancing the part of an angel in The Nutcracker. I was so proud of her, up on that giant stage with her dimpled smile and her graceful little self, dancing before an audience of hundreds. Since then, every single kid endeavor has me digging in my purse for the tissue. If it's one of my own kids, the sobs can be nearly audible. Today was no different. The show starts, I feel deeply proud of all the super kids, the struggle begins.

Lately, even adults doing cool things can make me tear up, especially those darn live performances. From soup to nuts, it is an amazing thing to be a human being.