My Senior year I decided to take Drama. Mrs. Haun, the drama teacher, would have preferred that I had started out in drama as a sophomore, but she waived that requirement and allowed me to start in the second year class, even though I was the only senior in there. One of the first assignments was to come to class the next day prepared to do an impression of an inanimate object. I surprised the class by being a tube of toothpaste squirting toothpaste on a tooth brush. My act only lasted a few seconds but everyone was laughing wildly and Mrs. Haun asked me to do it again. She said it was “Slendifferous!” I also developed a pantomime routine called “Putting Frosting On A Cake.” For this my act was to pantomime mixing cake batter and then putting it in the oven to bake. The doorbell rang and I visited with someone, forgetting all about the cake in the oven. When I finally remembered the cake, it was on fire. I shot it with blasts from the fire extinguisher. I cried that my cake was ruined. Then I tasted the “frosting” which was really the stuff that came out of the fire extinguisher. It was pretty good and I had a piece of the cake with the weird frosting.
Now, in the year 2000, I have teenagers of my own. I often just sit and listen to them talk. Everything in the world is so new to them and so very exciting. I can relate to what challenges and joys they face. Their Mother and I lived those teenage years as well. It is my feeling that a teenager can do anything they put their mind to. I often think how fortunate I am to live now in middle age, with the opportunities in the world that I have as an adult. But I am very grateful to have these youthful, excited, enthusiastic teenagers among us at home. And I often remember with fondness, those wonderful years when I was able to bask in the glory of being a teenager.
Coming Tomorrow: Accomplishing Goals
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