Oh my. I decided to return to Facebook on a small-scale basis, keeping my friend list to only around 30, or so, and what greeted me the next day? This photo from the time I was in The Music Man at age 17. (I'm standing against the wall, first on the far left.)
Wow. Truly a blast from the past.
And you know? Some people long to return to 17, but not me. Well, I'd still love to fit into that dress which my mom made for me (oh!), but otherwise? Forget it. I'll take Today.
Six months before that picture was taken, I went through a terrible time--we moved from a town I'd grown to cherish and a church, especially, packed with encouragers who made me feel special for the first time in my life (which is huge when you're a teen). I'd left the first high school I'd attended up until the second week of my junior year and frankly, I felt devastated, almost to the point of having a nervous breakdown. I cried all the time, wrote letters constantly to the people I'd left behind and missed a ton of days at this new school because my misery weakened my immune system.
I was a mess.
But after a couple months, God blessed me with a special friend, Tara, who's also in that photo, but standing behind the leading man (Scott, who I had a wild crush on). I'd never before had one very best friend and she became mine and oh! The crazy things this formerly shy mouse and Tara did together after school, on field trips and on weekends.
God used Tara to help snap me out of my grief.
And of course, there's more to all this, but this is a blog post, not a book, and this former 17-year-old needs to get up and do some old-fashioned housework. Happily.
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In case you're wondering, yes, I'm still in touch with Tara after all these years. She was also my maid-of-honor when Tom and I were married. I'm also still in contact with the young man seated on the far right who was two years younger than Tara and me and who had a crush on me at the time of this play. He and I were on the school newspaper staff together.
Ah, memories.
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"Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come." ... II Corinthians 5:17
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5 comments:
Ah, school Musicals. I was never in them, but I made costumes for them instead! Memories....
So good to look at life and know that when all is in shambles at some point it will pick up and all will be well.
You were so brave to be in the musical! I was totally a coward about this in high school. I remember walking back and forth and back and forth trying to summon the courage to try out for choir and then walking away without doing it!
And isn't it special to connect with friends from long ago and far away!
Robin--the costumes are so important in musicals, too! For many people both in the plays and watching them, costumes are half the fun.
Rita--yep! Especially when we make right choices and decide to leave the past behind. :)
Kristi--I had my friend, Tara, to thank for my great Music Man experience. I was very shy back then, but Tara told me she was trying-out and determined to make it, so she'd be busy with rehearsals and unable to spend much time with me if I didn't get a part. That was just what I needed to hear at that time. So I tried-out, too, made it in as a 'town person' and forever after, appreciated that fun time so much!
Thanks, Everyone! Blessings, Debra
17 was the year I got my driver's license and was half way through my apprenticeship as a chef. Some great times but I certainly wouldn't want to go back there.
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