My New Role

Did I ever tell you it’s hard to actually pull off going anywhere with this crew of mine? You know ever since I wrote about the Mormon Miracle pageant a couple of weeks ago and how much I enjoyed being part of that cast as a kid, everybody but my sweetie has been dying to go see it. I was most anxious to see if it was as amazing as I remember from my youth and some of the kids insisted they had never been. We say that we will go every year, but something always comes up and it doesn’t happen. This year was no different.

Princess and the Prima Donna spent all week at Girls’ Camp, so Saturday night was our only option and it also happened to be the last performance. Teach, Drama Queen, and the Dog Walker all survived Friday night at their Relay for Life, walking the track and helping raise money for cancer research and cure. (Thanks to everyone who donated, btw!) Then we had three soccer games (except that Crafty threw up right before her game, so she didn’t go) and I had to make a quick trip to Kohl’s that turned into a long trip…they have some amazing clearance and I have an extra 30% off this week! But I think I’m pretty much done with school shopping.

Anyway, by the time everyone got back to the house, tired and exhausted (and a little ornery), I almost wrote it all off. But we were still in the same boat, everybody but my sweetie said they wanted to go so we quickly loaded a cooler and some sandwich makings and stuffed everyone in the van. With the older girls along, every seat was full. And believe me, we heard about it for most of the 2-hour drive! Thankfully, a bunch of them took the opportunity to nap, so that helped. We spent a couple of hours at Grandma’s house, then we headed for Manti.

We arrived just before 9:00, found a parking place, covered everybody but the baby in bug spray, and hiked three blocks to the temple grounds. I could tell right off that things were different. First of all, the blankets we brought were mostly not necessary. Almost the entire area was covered with folding chairs. When I was young, they only had a small section of them for the “old” people and everyone else spread out on the ground. My sweetie grumbled about not getting to cuddle on a blanket, but then led the troops right down front. We waited for about half an hour for the show to begin. Curly kept bouncing around from seat to seat, a combination of the donut I fed him and the fact that he hadn’t remembered to go to the potty.

Finally the show began at dusk. The kids were annoyed that I knew all of the words since the soundtrack is mostly the same, so after about the first 10 minutes I stopped quoting and started listening. The part when Joseph dies still made me cry as did the Mormon Battalion scene. It was not the same, but then it couldn’t be. There I was, no longer a young girl who was part of the cast, but a mom with ten of her children gathered around, watching the scenes unfold. I had Baby Doll tucked in my jacket to nurse and keep the bugs away. Curly and Teach on one side, Drama Queen with Scout on the other. All the normal quiet chaos we have at any church meeting and I found myself feeling very comfortable in my new role. I guess that’s how life usually works. You can’t really ever go back…but maybe forward is better anyway.