Embrace what is true and let the rest fall away!

What a year, since I've posted.
What a fantastic, year!

David and I discussed at the beginning of 2015 how it was a big year for our family.  I would turn 50.
Regan would graduate High School.  Rosey would finish Elementary School. Lucas would be launching his Senior year of High School the day his big sister graduated.
We knew there would be family visits for the graduation.
We knew we would travel to NYC to celebrate mine and Joe's birthday, together, in the homage to our now, 47 years of friendship.
We knew that Regan, Zachary and I would all be participating in Into The Woods to end the season at the Theatre, and that it would be Regan's final show with the Company.  Mackensie and Lucas were on Crew, and David and Rosey made it to the show twice, so the Pelicanos were, together for the joy and the tears of this milestone.

Here is what we didn't know.  We didn't know that on Father's Day, after the curtain closed on the final show of Regan's final season at FIRE Theatre Co., Zachary and Mackensie would gift David with the news that he is going to be a Grandfather.  By association, it was a gift for the old Grandmother too!  Even on that very day filled with emotion, we couldn't have known that we would find out on the following Tuesday, that we were going to be Grandparents X TWO!  We are happy that our family is growing and that our dream of growing old together is actually coming true.
(Maybe the growing old part is happening a little faster than we had hoped!)

I can't remember another time in my life when I have so viscerally felt the transition in my bones.

I feel like it is time to change something, in a tangible way to embrace this new stage in our lives.
It can't be hasty, but it must be true.
I have only been 50 for three and a half months, and I feel like I've really begun ACT II.

We are leaving for a Beach Vacation and it will be the last time we are all together, for sure, for a Summer Trip.  Things change.  The kids could have jobs next Summer that prevent them from joining us for the whole week.  Zachary and Mackensie will be relatively new parents of seven month old twins. We'll be ready to see Lucas off on his College adventure, as Regan will be on the way to her Sophomore Year in the summer of 2016.
Things change.
I've changed.
I've changed since the first time I sat in front of this computer and thought I'd "blog,"... "this" isnt' the same as it was in 2009, but yes, "I'm really doing it, whatever it is that challenges me, or makes me content in my world.  I'm learning every day about what it is like to live in the moment, after having shed many of the ideas and, frankly, people  that held me back.  So far, 50 has been fantastic.
I expect it to only get better!


As Little Red exclaimed in Into The Woods, "I'm excited"!

A New Idea...

I read an interesting article in Somerset Life, a quarterly magazine that I love. It was about falling in love with your blog...sounds crazy.
The thing about it was, it hit home.
I love the Artistic Blogs...they're the ones I visit to be inspired.  I just can't pull that kind of content off.
I am not a photographer.  My world is kind of out of kilter, most of the time, so my photos wouldn't reflect the true beauty of my life, because I am kind of the queen of the gorgeous mess.
The thing I come back to all the time when I think of how badly I'd like to "dare to imagine a different life"
( I'm para phrasing "You've Got Mail" when Kathleen tells Birdie she's closing the store....I digress) is this; that life includes sharing ideas and stories.

I think that's what I am meant to be doing.  A true "second act".
I see myself clearly.  I have had the best run as an entertainer, and I'd like to continue to do that when the opportunity arises for me to be on stage.  Look, I love the spotlight, and a microphone, so I will never want to be away completely.
I have the pleasure of being able to host events at the Theatre where my son is the Artistic Director, and that gives me the chance to see him use his talents everyday, as I help him pull together loose ends every once in a while. I have the distinct honor of being the mother of all different sorts of artists, actor/director/singers/musicians/writers/visual artists...we have all of these people wrapped up into what is our family.  I love the idea of sharing the journey that is being the mother of and raising artists.
I also love the idea of sharing the story of this life with other moms or women, or men, or artists, or anyone else that is interested in knowing about it.
I have had very unique experiences.  They are all worth sharing, even if only to give someone who is searching a bit of perspective about what can be overcome, or understood, or enjoyed about some of life's curve balls.
I think I'm going to take a page out of that article I read and just write more and worry less.
I am going to share more in hopes that I can change someone's day, every once in a while if they should stumble upon what I share.
I am going to try harder to be a force for good when I am able and think my thoughts through in a way that is pleasing to the reader. I want to make them wish to know more and come back to visit again and again, the way we've built an audience at the Theatre.
So that's what I've been thinking about lately....
Thoughts?