Brendan was thrilled to find out he would have a second opportunity to perform on the BCT stage this year as one of the terrible children of Room 204 in Miss Nelson is Missing. The show ran for four weekends and he had a lot fun with the nine other kids and two adults. He enjoyed the school performances and school vacation week shows too.  He was especially excite d to see so many friends in the audience including his hair stylist!
Since the day after the election, we have all been trying to figure out what we do next. It was a divisive election. So much of the progress made over the last eight years has now been called into question.
We’ve had a lot of family conversations. Together we recently watched a fantastic episode of blackish. The kids have had questions. World events have led to discussions about history, politics and family values. All good, but often hard discussions.
It’s not often that we have the opportunity to take what we talk about- especially the principles we hold so dearly- and put action to our words. Today- January 21st- we were able to do that at Boston’s Women’s March.
Brendan and I attended with friends. Brendan made his own sign and chose what he wanted to wear. His support for the LGBTQ community was demonstrated with his Pride T shirt and rainbow skirt. He chose hot pink for his hair in support of women (and added silver sparkles of course). He stood out, as he always does.
We walked to Boston Common- a place we visit often. There were so many people and so many great signs. I think no matter how much I explained it to Brendan in advance, it was still overwhelming for him to see for himself.
We stood for a long time listening to great speeches from Mayor Walsh, Senator Warren and Attorney General Healy. All inspiring. All made me proud to be from Boston. All gave a reason for Bren to ask questions and understand better how privileged we are to live in Massachusetts.
At one point Senator Warren said she would be speaking of something controversial- that “science is real.” I had to explain to Brendan that there are people who do not agree on facts like global warming. All he could do was shake his head.
In the end, the number of people and Brendan’s show rehearsal meant we missed out on the actually marching part but the solidarity of being at the rally and seeing everyone made it’s impression.
Some people left their signs and created a collection. We brought ours home. It’s hanging on our bulletin board as a reminder. This was just the beginning. Seeing all the marches all over the country and world was inspiring. Showing Brendan the pictures all he could say was, “I’m part of that!” Yes, we are.
It was an incredible day we will not forget. Proud to live in Boston. Proud of Massachusetts.
In 2013 we went to see The Velveteen Rabbit at Boston Children’s Theatre. The adaptation was written by BCT’s Artistic Director Burgess Clark and has become an annual BCT holiday tradition. Brendan had wanted to audition since seeing the show but conflicts with his 4th Church shows always conflicted. This year he decided that he wanted to audition for the role of The Boy. And he got the part.
Because it’s an annual tradition, Brendan can tell you who of his older BCT friends (and other kids he doesn’t know) were in past year’s productions. The year we saw the show Samil played the boy. Brendan was thrilled to find out Samil would be one of the puppeteers in this year’s show. Opening weekend another part “Boy” was also in the audience- and she just finished up a Broadway run in School of Rock (Bren may have freaked out a little bit when he saw her!).
The show was beautifully done and Brendan was terrific (biased mom and all). It was so awesome to see audiences react. It was especially sweet to see young kids at the school performances react. The cast and crew were wonderful and we can’t think of a better way to get into the holiday spirit.
The cast had a Secret Santa swap and funny enough Samil had Brendan. He painted him beautiful little canvases of some of characters in the show. They will now be part of our holiday decorations. Such sweet memories.
“Real isn’t how you are made,’ said the Skin Horse. ‘It’s a thing that happens to you. When a child loves you for a long, long time, not just to play with, but REALLY loves you, then you become Real.’
‘Does it hurt?’ asked the Rabbit.
‘Sometimes,’ said the Skin Horse, for he was always truthful. ‘When you are Real you don’t mind being hurt.’
‘Does it happen all at once, like being wound up,’ he asked, ‘or bit by bit?’
‘It doesn’t happen all at once,’ said the Skin Horse. ‘You become. It takes a long time. That’s why it doesn’t happen often to people who break easily, or have sharp edges, or who have to be carefully kept. Generally, by the time you are Real, most of your hair has been loved off, and your eyes drop out and you get loose in the joints and very shabby. But these things don’t matter at all, because once you are Real you can’t be ugly, except to people who don’t understand.â€