in the middle of numerous thunderstorm warnings yesterday we had a moment of sunshine and i was able to take this photo as a mother’s day present for 4 generations of camp women. the gal in the middle is mrs. camp or “gran” as we call her now. her daughter was my best friend growing up. i spent many afternoons and dinner times at her house. she makes a killer navy bean soup. and her “better than sex” cake... well, the name kind of says it all. she used to whisper that name when she made it. wouldn’t say it out loud to two high school girls. wasn’t proper.
her daughter (on the right) is mary jane’s sister, molly. molly and i taught preschool together. molly taught me so many things. i helped her open her wedding gifts (i was in middle school.) and she taught me how to catalog the gifts on index cards. but most importantly she taught me (long before i was a mother) that motherhood means that weeping may endure for a night. or many many many many nights. but joy will come one morning. molly lived through the worst that a mother can live through. the death of her son, wilson. and she kept getting up in the morning. she keeps getting up in the morning. and she keeps living, loving, and laughing. don’t get me wrong... sometimes i saw her cry. the day he would have turned 16. the day he would have graduated from high school. but i mostly saw her laugh, and love, and live. and i saw her trust God. i saw her raise three fabulous children. as she said last night to me when we were talking about teenagers, “not perfect teenagers. no one has a perfect teenager.” but she has some great kids. here on earth. and one waiting for her in heaven.
merritt is the gal on the left. the newest mother of the bunch. i watched her grow up. i took her engagement photos. took photos at her wedding. and now am taking photos of precious molly cate. look at that sweet face. 4 generations of women standing in the late afternoon light. i think that it might have been overcast but these women bring their own sunshine wherever they go... and it showed up yesterday.
so where were we before my photography gig stepped in...
oh, another broadway musical that i wish i could have seen live and in person...
the 2003 revival of “big river: the adventures of huckleberry finn” on broadway.
because the entire show was sung AND signed in ASL (american sign language). everyone on stage signed the songs. i saw a number from the show performed on the tony awards. it was back when i was actually taking sign language. it was beautiful. like the most wonderfully choreographed ballet. but choreographed with sign language so expertly and seamlessly woven into the play that it seemed like it had always been there. like it completed the play in a way that was musical perfection. a feast for the eyes and the ears.
i am studying the book of ecclesiastes right now. so now even i realize this blog is meaningless. ha. i am listening to these sermons by matt chandler of the village church along with my reading. as solomon says, “there is nothing new under the sun” and i agree with him... that big river reinterpretation with sign language was something done in a really creative and new way on broadway. broadway musicals usually have a show every week that is interpreted by an interpreter over to the side. but this was interpreted by EVERYone on stage. it was a part of the show.
from what i read and saw, everyone was very affected by the addition of the sign language and felt it communicated on a whole different level. to all different kinds of audience members. i wish i could have seen it. i wish i could have sat by someone who was able to “see” a broadway show for the first time ever. “see” it sung out in front of them. that would have been a great experience. talk about waiting for the light to shine (which is one of the big numbers from the musical)... the lights of broadway shining and signing in a way that had never happened before.
there is nothing new under the sun. but sometimes the sun hits on something bright and it sparkles and shines out so blindingly that you see it like you are seeing it for the first time. i think that is what the signed and sang version of big river was back in 2004.
there aren’t any youtube clips from that production. which is kind of a shame. but it also kind of right because i think it truly was something you would have to “be there” to really “be there.” and even though deafness won’t be a reality in heaven, i think that the heavenly big river production (if i have anything to say about it) will still be performed in song and sign...
because God is all about speaking in SIGN language.
Daniel 6:27
He rescues and He saves;
He performs signs and wonders
in the heavens and on the earth.