An Emotional Day for Many

Hi Everyone,

Well, I've come back in the middle of the week again. Maybe the reason I keep returning in the middle of the week is that I keep having a lot to write about. However, today I am less excited than I was last week. Today finds me more sad, but not necessarily a bad kind of sad. The kind of sad that is oddly peaceful. Today, I will wax somewhat emotional, but I promise it will be for a good reason.

This past friday, I talked about the theater class I really enjoyed taking this semester. Well, yesterday was the last day of it, the day of the final. Our final was to read a monologue we had written. We were to perform it for the class and ourselves. We were continuing from last wednesday. I read through it throughout the morning.

I decided to read my monologue near the beginning. My monologue was written from the perspective of a teenager back in school. I was talking to a friend, or to someone who I could depend upon. No one else understood me, so I told this person, emotionally, that I felt alone, and that I was willing to have people in my life, I concluded by asking if they would be my friend.

I asked with some emotion, since this is how I often feel. I often feel that I am without a reliable friend or counterpart, outside of my family. Since my best friend moved away, to Washington state, back in 2005, I have been mostly by myself, believing, like the character, that I was alone in my perception of the world.

This is why yesterday was so important. After each of us finished our monologues, which some of the people had trouble performing, we talked about our experience in the class. One girl, in particular, said many of the things I had felt about the course. She said basically many of the things I was going to say.

As I went through middle and high school, I became self-conscious and reserved. I rarely opened up to anybody. As I mentioned about this class, I was able to interact, ironically enough in an acting class, more openly than I have, at least recently. This was very important to me. I said as much, and then we left class and resolved to connect via the best way we knew how... Facebook. We even started a facebook group for people in this section of this class. Sadly, the professor will move St. Louis next fall, but I was able to find the aforementioned facebook group, and yesterday I was voraicously friending the people whom I recognized from the class.

Often, I have felt like I didn't appreciate something enough while it was happening to me. Have you ever gotten that? Well, I often come across this feeling. I didn't have that with this class. Even though I was sad yesterday and today, and for the last few weeks, I certainly appreciated it much as I experienced it. I feel like I really learned something about interacting.

In improvisation, we learned about "saying yes" going along with a story someone else states. For instance, if someone in the act asks "Why is your hand on fire?" responding as if your hand really was on fire. I often have trouble saying "yes" to life's little "improvs." I want there to be the right idea that will make things work. In the improv, however, I learned that it works better if you go into it without an idea, and let one randomly emerge. This summarizes why this was so important.

That was yesterday. This morning, when I woke up, I was told by my family that my Grandmother passed away early this morning. She was my father's mother, and she lived to be 86 years old. I cannot think of many things to say about her. I could not possibly say everything that needs to be said in one blog post. I will say some words here, and elaborate further on Friday.

I will say that she was a wonderful person. She was devoted to her family, children and grandchildren. She was also a devout Christian Scientist, and a teacher for many years. She was a good friend to those she knew and made an big impact on the people she met, even the hospice nurses who helped her for the last few weeks. She passed away peacefully, having been at home, receiving care for three weeks.

I will give a full biographical sumnation of my Grandmother on friday. For now I will just say that she is survived by her husband, my grandfather, her sister, her four children, my aunt, two uncles and my father, seven grandchildren, my cousins, my brother, and, by your humble servant. Her love and her light will always shine. See you all on friday!

This is the Daily Reeder, Over&out.