SCT at GOB and JEA

As I told both Sherry G and Sherry M, I have been out this week almost as much as I normally am, but with one difference: I have been with friends and family on many more occasions than usual.

That's been quite the blessing!

Imagine that: blessings from a broken shifter cable.

(smile!)

Sherry Giddens was at my house to take me to church, literally!

(I just love that song and had to sneak it in here!) 

Today, I found out she's been showing up a little earlier than when she generally arrives, thinking that I wanted to be there by 11 AM.

What a nice laugh we had when we realized we both customarily miss the opening chimes!

(smile!)

Today was the second God On Broadway sermon, this one using the musical, "The Civil War", last appearing on GOB in 2012.

I noticed the choir here at Asbury Memorial was lacking its tenors and basses.

Just skirts and bonnets over there!

That echoed the lack of men around during warfare, setting the tone.

 

Here's another sight that ran home the theme of death and loss: a young soldier asking his mates to "Tell My Father" one last message.

Wait a minute... I know that young man singing so passionately!

That's Trey Wilner of the Savannah Children's Theatre!!!

I last had the pleasure of his presence at the "Zombie Prom" this summer.

After the show, I tried to find him so I could congratulate him on being so perfect in that role, but he left without me seeing him.

I do hope this means he has not yet graduated and will be in more local shows.

(smile!)

After hanging out in Holliday Hall a bit, dropping off my canned goods for the food drive, Sherry took me home and headed off.

Oops, I was to have asked for a ride to the Savannah JEA!

The SavChTh was having their final performance of "The Miraculous Journey Of Edward Tulane" at 2 PM and I was to meet Sherry Moore there.

My blonde roots struck again!

I called her in a panic, then texted, with regrets that I would miss the play.

Fortunately, I made it!

She explained the situation to the folks there...

and they held the start for 5 minutes until she returned with me in tow.

I am so blessed!

And I loved the tale of the china rabbit that had its name changed, and even its gender, as it passed from one hand to another.

Starting off in a girl's embrace, 'Edward Tulane' was lost overboard on a cruise and not found until a fisherman dragged him up with his net.

The rabbit then became 'Susanna' and stayed with the empty-nester mom until a jealous person tosses the rabbit into the dump.

That's where a hobo and his dog find 'Malone', as they call him, taking him along on their travels until a meanie tosses him off the train.

A boy then takes 'Clyde' up and gives him to his ill sister, but when she dies, another steals the rabbit and 'Jangles' becomes the dancer for the busker.

Years have passed at this point.

The 10-year-old girl who originally named him has grown up and become a mother, looking for a toy in a curio shop for her daughter... and finds him.

(smile!)

Such a delightful, heartwarming play, made even more so because this wandering troupe - and all there to see the play - had waited for me!

What a true enthusiasm of the woman as she embraced her long-lost companion!

And how wonderful that 'Edward Tulane' wound up in my arms for a hug! 

So blessed I am to have two friends named Sherry...

i thank You, God. 

(smile!)

GOB: Company

This Sondheim musical was all about friendship and love and the changes that occur over the course of time.

I felt it was speaking directly to me!

After I married and moved back to Savannah, I was out of step with most of my college friends, as they'd moved and married and had children.

Fortunately, my husband ran a trivia game at Sam Fink's Deli and soon I had the beginnings of a new group of friends: Doug, Monica, Rob, Jason, Kristen, Sue, John, Lynita, JinHi.

Within that first decade, they'd become couples, like us, but we'd still all get together regularly for Sand Gnats baseball, playing pool with Doug, swimming pool parties with Rob, going to theatre featuring JinHi, parties at Monica's A-frame, cookouts at our place.

Things slowed down when the children started coming, but our group of friends were locked in, solid, always there for each other.

Then Jeff and I divorced.

I tried to maintain those friendships, but one of the wives didn't want me around playing pool anymore... and Monica was kicked out of that club, too, for being single... and Sue was in Okinawa... John had moved to Pooler... and the dynamics were gone.

So I got involved with other groups: Philo Cafe, Drinking Liberally, Mensa, No Kidding!, Wednesday Night Suppers at Asbury Memorial.

Between the four of them, I started having a new group of close friends: Barbara, Sandy, Lauri, Lynn, Christa, Bonnie.

Most of them were in other groups, too, that I joined: Women's Social Network, Couples and Others, plus a few more on the Meetup.com site. 

However, it remained true that Barbara, Sandy, Christa, Lauri, and Lynn really hit it off!

The five of us, being over 40, really were tight, going out to eat or to shows or to movies, having parties at each other's houses, together almost every weekend.

Then, a few years ago, Lauri and her mom, Lynn, moved to Kissimmee, having wearied of life on Tybee and the Bananas' circus.

Christa died in December of 2022.

Barbara was killed in July of 2024.

Of course, I have other friends I've made along the way, but not close ones.

Science has shown that true friendships take a minimum of 200 hours together to form; close friendships, like best friends, take much more than that.

That's a lot of time.

That's why making friends gets harder with age, because careers and family life take away from time needed to build new relationships. 

That's why most close friendships are those formed at school, whether high school or college, as the same groups of people in a major are together in the same classes for several years and manage to find other common bonds.

I still have best friends from those days, though much physical distance separates us.

However, of the two closest friends I have now, one rarely drives due to narcolepsy, and the other's car is so full that no one can ride with her.  

My brothers don't understand how it is that I have a problem finding a ride now that my car is in the shop.

They know I know a lot of people, but don't get it that I don't feel that I know anyone enough to ask for a favor like picking me up, taking me somewhere, and than returning me home.

Barbara and I handled that for each other.

Sigh.

However, on Friday, while talking with Smitty at dinner, I had the thought on how to get a ride to Asbury for today.

After all, this wasn't just a regular Sunday.

This was the first Sunday of the month, meaning we would have Communion as well as the Big Coffee Hour.

Plus, this being October, it was the first God On Broadway sermon! 

So, I checked on the event page on fb for others who said they would be coming, then I chose one to message for a ride.

Sherry Giddens, who I'd dined with on multiple occasions during WNS, contacted me right back!

Yes, she would gladly give me a lift!

And, so, I was there!!!

Sherry sat in the back with a woman named Marty, but I moved up to the fourth row, on the right.

That's about where I try to sit each time, near the windows and the choir.

From the very first song, I realized that I knew "Company" after all!

Right place, right time. 

"Another Hundred People" sounded so much like "Beautiful" that I knew it, too, was inspired by all the moving masses in New York City.

How did newcomers there make friends so they would have a support network? 

Through work and church, mostly, same as most adults that move to a new location where they know no one.

That wasn't the case in this musical, though.

'Bobby' was turning 35 and his best friends, all female and now married, threw him a surprise party to celebrate.

That got him thinking about his options with the girlfriends he was dating.

How to decide on marriage or continued single life?

Ryan McCurdy was back from NYC for that role, to our good fortune.

I do so love how much he gives to his portrayals!

Many thanks, Sherry, for your kindness today!

I do look forward to becoming a true friend to you.

(smile!)