Monday, January 30, 2017

HAKUNA MATATA

HUKUNA MATATA....
means no worries for the rest of your life.....
This child, my last born, my only daughter,
the one I call gypsy baby.....
So many memories recalled this weekend as we
sat in the beautiful Saenger Theater and watched 
the Broadway production of 
THE LION KING.
Let me give you a little background info.
on why this weekend was so special to me, to us, for us.
This child of mine, always lived and continues to live
"to the beat of her own drum"
and often reminds me,
"Not all those who wonder (wander) are lost"
She grew up with Disney Movies as most children do,
she loved them all, oh but when the Lion King came out,
she not only loved it, she LIVED it!
Her cousin, Tie, made the mistake (not) of 
buying her a real Lion King costume for her
5th birthday and she became CIMBA.
She played with every Lion King toy,
and, if I allowed it, this Lion suit was her outfit of choice.
She wore it when it was cold,
she wore it when it was 100 degree weather,
She wore it to daycare, she wore it to her 
brothers Jr. High school football games.
In her eyes it was fitting clothing since his
team was the Lions and she was, of course, a Lion.
She roared when he got on the field and he
begged us not to let her wear "that suit to my games"
Yet, one thing remains in this child,
you can't really tell her what to do,
and you picked your battles.
Wearing a lion suit was not a battle worth fighting for me.
....and if she didn't wear the suit, well she had the
clothes, and her hair always was like her own Mane...
I
There was just no getting away from her love of the Lion King.
She wore out two DVD movies of it and even 
when we thought she may be getting too old for 
Disney clothing, she disagreed if it had Lion King on it.
The costume began to fit her only in the torso
with her long arms and legs showing more
skin than man made fur.
Thank goodness, in 4th grade she found 
HARRY POTTER 
and her love for reading and Lion King sort of
took a back seat to the Potter series
(which of course, would warrant its own blog)
So, this year, when Christmas came along,
knowing it had been a hard time for the gypsy baby,
I decided the only gift I could give her would be to give
her two tickets to the Lion King.
I truly believed she would invite a friend,
I jokingly said, "If you can't find anyone to go with you..."
Imagine my surprise when after a few hard days between
her and I, she came to the cottage, with a ticket in hand,
with tears in her eyes, explaining all she had been feeling
positive and negative the last few days between us,
she handed me a ticket and said,
"There is no one else who would understand how much
this gift means to me nor anyone else I would want to
experience this with but you"
I, now crying as well, accepted the gift with a big hug
and we began to plan not just one night, 
but a NOLA sleepover!
Finally Saturday, the day was here,
I won't explain everything on our itinerary, how boring
would that be....
But I will share my emotions:
AS THE LIGHTS DIMMED IN THE 
OVERWHELMING BEAUTIFUL SAENGER THEATER,
WITH SO MUCH HISTORY IN IT, THAT IT ALONE
COULD SPARK EMOTION.
AS THE SINGING AND COSTUMES BEGAN 
TO REVEAL THEMSELVES, AS WE REALIZED WE
HAD THE SECOND ROW TO THE STAGE, RIGHT
NEAR THE BONGO DRUMS, WE COULD SEE THE
BAND DIRECTOR IN OUR VIEW AS THE ORCHESTRA
SAT IN ITS SUNKEN BAND SPOT, AS THE HUMAN
SIZED PUPPETS CAME DOWN THE CENTER AISLE,
ESPECIALLY THE LIFE SIZED ELEPHANT....
I WENT BACK....
I WENT BACK TO A TIME WHEN THIS WOMAN WHO 
NOW SAT BESIDE ME, NOW 27 YEARS OLD
WAS THAT CHILD I SPOKE OF BEFORE.
ALL THE MEMORIES CAME FLOODING BACK
I PUT MY ARM AROUND HER SHOULDERS, 
AROUND THIS WOMAN CHILD AND I TEARED UP.
SHE WAS SO EXCITED, THE DIMPLES THAT ARE
SO BEAUTIFULLY DEEP WERE IN FULL EXISTENCE.
SHE COULD BARELY STAY IN HER SEAT!
THE TALKATIVE PART OF HER, THAT SHE GOT FROM
ME BEGAN TO SPEAK. WE WHISPERED AND 
RECALLED ALL THE CHARACTERS AND HOW GREAT
THE PERFORMANCE WAS HAVING FOLLOWED 
THE MOVIE SO WELL. 
WE SETTLED INTO THE PLAY ENJOYING THE MOMENT
THEN THE SONG WAS SUNG BY THE GROWN SIMBA
TO HIS FATHER...
ENDLESS NIGHTS...
...SLEEPLESSNESS I DREAM OF THE
DAY WHEN YOU WERE BY MY SIDE, 
GUIDING MY PATH, YOU PROMISED YOU'D BE THERE
WHENEVER I CALED YOUR NAME...
I KNOW THIS NIGHT MUST END AND THAT
THES SUN WILL RISE, THAT THE CLOUDS 
WILL CLEAR,
THAT THE SUN WILL SHING AGAIN...
AND THERE, RIGHT IN THAT THEATER, I LOST MY
COMPOSURE. I CRIED... LIKE A BABY, I CRIED
FOR THE YEARS WHEN I WAS BOTH MY BOTH 
OF MY BABY'S LIFE LINES.
I CRIED KNOWING THAT LIFE HAS NOT BEEN
EASY FOR EACH OF THEM IN THE LAST FEW YEARS.
BUT THEY ARE STRONGER AND HAVE
PERSEVERED. I CRIED BECAUSE I GAVE THEM
THE BEST POSSIBLE CHILDHOOD I COULD.
I CRIED BECAUSE I AM SO DARN PROUD OF
BOTH OF THEM.
AND AS I CRIED, MY BABY GIRL, SHE TURNED TO ME
AND NOTICES THAT I HAVE LOST IT AND
IT IS NOT MY ARM AROUND HER AS IT HAS BEEN
FOR SO MANY YEARS, BUT IT IS HER ARM
THAAT REACHES AROUND MY SHOULDERS,
RUBS MY BACK AND THAT MOMENT,
NOT ONLY DO I REMEMBER SHE IS GROWN UP NOW,
THAT SHE IS BECOMING MORE LIKE ME IN MANY WAYS.
MOSTLY, I REALIZE THAT, LIKE I AM THERE FOR HER,
SHE WILL ALWAYS, ALWAYS BE THERE FOR ME.
THANK YOU, JESI,
THANK YOU FOR THE WEEKEND, I WILL TREASURE 
IF FOREVER, FOR MORE REASONS THAN YOU 
KNOW, I LOVE YOU, I ADORE YOU!
MOMMA

HAKUNA MATATA!








3 comments:

Tiff said...

You, once again, have brought me to tears. I completely understand the deep emotions experienced. Love you both!!!

Unknown said...

This blog posting brought me to tears. What a special memory for both of you...indeed Hakuna Matata

Unknown said...

Love you ❤️

the inspirational JEMMA KATE

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