These Are My JOTtings...

Family Is Very Important to Me!

The funny thing about family is that you can't fake it.
Everybody in the family knows your "stuff."

High school graduation is often the watershed moment in many families.
If the graduate leaves home never to return,
then you know that home made a lasting negative impression.
If the graduate leaves home and returns often by choice,
then you know that the childhood home was good experience.

For most of us Family is a "mixed bag."

We liked some things our family members did.
For instance, my Dad had a great laugh. I miss that laugh so much!
Also, Mom loved Christmas so much. (Actually, they both did.)
No guesses are needed as to why I love Christmas as much as I do, too!

However, there were other things we really didn't care to experience.
In this case, Dad had the philosophy,...
"Car trips are for going places! The destination is the goal! You can hold it a little longer!"
Also, the directional blinkers were a foreign language to my Dad.
Changing lanes were a little like Mr. Toad's Wild Ride.
Now, regarding Mom, I never realized why I felt so sleepy on Sunday afternoons,
until I grew up and became a Daddy myself.
Momma loved to make Southern Sweet Tea every Sunday.
She could stump her toe on the sugar scoop, putting her boys into a sugar coma,...
'cause Momma wanted some peace.

I realize that not everyone had a Family in which the members wanted to love each other.
We weren't perfect at it, but that was our goal.

Years later I can respect some of the things that irritated me as a child.
My parents were normal human beings.
They were just trying to survive the expectations of life on Earth.
But they told me repeatedly that they loved me.

It's easy to forgive a lot of flaws, when you know you are LOVED.
Besides, I have flaws that need to be forgiven, too.

"God uses cracked pots to allow the light of Christ to shine through us." (Emily Brink)

I hope you will enjoy this preliminary family portfolio.

Mom loved for me to practice the piano late at night, when I was a teenager. It seemed to help her to go to sleep.

Dad was my greatest supporter and cheerleader for nearly 42 years. His absence has left a great void in my life.

Jade started acting on our community stage in Annie, the Musical during the spring of 2012 as one of the nonspeaking orphan girls, but "I got to jump on the bed, Daddy!" So, there you have it. This picture is of our joint-performance in Miracle on 34th Street, the Musical in December of 2014. I played the part of Martin Shelhammer, the Toy Department Manager, who gave Santa Claus his chair in Macy's Department Store.

In June of last year (2016) Jade and I shared the stage once again in The Miracle Worker, which is the story of Helen Keller's teacher, Ann Sullivan. I played the part of Mr. Anagnos, the headmaster of the Perkins School for the Blind in Boston. Mr. Anagnos discovered Ann Sullivan and recommended her for the job as Helen Keller's teacher. He saw that she was a very determined young woman. That trait was indispensable in this case.

Jay O'Toole
on March 14th, 2017