Don’t Stop Believin’!

This weekend, Ben wrapped up his performance in The Lion King Kids (as part of the ensemble.) The show was great! As usual, after the show, the cast and mentors of this Penguin Project Production sang and danced to Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believin’” and Ben was in his element.

I love seeing Ben and friends perform. Hats off to Sophia and all the other volunteer mentors as well as the director who made this happen!

What I loved most about Ben’s performance is that he protectively took Lena’s hand wherever they went. I think it is 95% chivalry and 5% his being afraid of the dark, which is where they went whenever they were headed off-stage. Doesn’t matter. Taking a friend’s hand is what we all should aspire to (even if, or especially if, we are scared of the dark.)

Can you feel the love tonight?

Last weekend we visited my parents in their new apartment in their retirement community, and it was nice to see them settled and adjusted to this phase of life. We got to join them for a meal in one of their dining areas and we went on an outing to the Dayton Market, as well as trying a restaurant with Central American cuisine. 

As an afternoon activity, knowing how my mom likes a good ditty, we all read through a play about the thirteen original colonies that I wrote for fifth graders to perform. (The Late Bus Theater League at my school has been working hard and will be ready to perform after state testing! I had to quell a mutiny that formed when I was in Japan, but we’re back on track now.) I guess the play is really a musical, since there is a song for each colony, sung to a familiar tune. The Pennsylvania song is sung to the tune of “Yankee Doodle,” and it sparked a memory my mom had of a song she learned in her youth from an older sister, who had learned it from a friend, who must have learned it from someone older because it ends with Woodrow Wilson! The whole song was too long to be uploaded, but hopefully, you’ll get it if you click on the link below.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/qW47KKBZ52rX6FFk9

Her rendition proves a couple things to me. First, her memory for a song she learned in the 1940s was flawless. Did you hear all those lyrics? Second, song is a powerful way to impart facts, and I’m glad that I have given my students something to hold on to. Third, when he’s 85, Ben has a better than average chance that he will throw his walker aside, take a friend’s hand, and start belting out “Don’t Stop Believin’,” complete with all his dance moves. It could happen! Don’t stop believin’!