And wuv, tru wuv, will fowow you foweva...

You know what happened on April Fool's Day? It snowed. Really.

April Fool's Day was also my birthday. Really. Yes, now I am 27 years old. HA!

It was a great birthday. Tony got me tickets to go see Mandy Patinkin at the Chicago Theater. We went the Saturday before my birthday and it was FABULOUS! It was fun to be the token Gentiles, since Mandy's Chicago fan base is predominately Jewish. We had box seats and the other people in the box were a lovely Jewish couple who were celebrating their 55th wedding anniversary. When I told them that we were there celebrating my birthday they asked how old I was. After I confessed my ACTUAL age, the woman looked at me and said, "Honey, I've got clothes older than you." Love, love, love her!! In any case, they were very cute. The husband pulled their wedding photo out of his wallet and confessed that she was only 19 when they got married. His wife smacked him on the arm when he told us, saying, "Maury! Now they know how old I am!" He replied, "What? I just told them how old you were when we got married." She said, "Yes. And you told them we'd been married for 55 years. They look like smart kids...I'm sure they can add!"

Ha! Little does she know. I still can't figure out how old she is. I was a liberal arts major.

Anyway, Maury was so proud of his wedding picture; he had it laminated. Sophie, his wife, asked if we had any pictures of our kids and so the next thing I know we are chatting away about dance lessons and the school system, etc. It was great. Plus, the nice thing about the Chicago Theater is that they have cocktail waitresses milling about the box seat area taking drink orders before the show. Tony and I wanted to buy them an anniversary drink, but they both just wanted water so we got them a bottle of water. When the waitress brought it Maury tried to open it but couldn't get his arthritic hand to do it. Just when I was trying to decide how to offer to open it without sounding condescending he handed me the bottle and said, "I can't get this damn thing open," without any embarrassment whatsoever. It was just like being with my kids! They can't get any damn thing open either. When I tell you they were charming, I mean they were soooo charming. At one point Sophie mentioned how tickled she was to have some fun people to talk to. As the show time neared, I noticed that Sophie and Maury were only abut 5'2" and they were sitting in the two chairs behind us. Well, Tony and I aren't Amazons or anything, but we are taller than your average 80 year old Jewish couple. I whispered to Tony that I would like to give them our seats so they could see, but then the house lights dimmed and I noticed that the two front row seats next to us in the box were empty. So, I looked at Sophie and I said, "You two should sit here. Then you can see better and I'm sure those people won't show up now." So we helped them over to those seats (it was dark and I didn't want anyone to fall and break a hip).

Well, if you know anything about Mandy Patinkin, you know he sings a lot of standards and a bunch of show tunes during his show. Well, if Maury and Sophie knew the song, they would periodically sing along. If I hadn't already established a relationship with them I might have been slightly annoyed by this because you just don't sing along at a Mandy Patinkin show. It's not like seeing The Foo Fighters....it's theater. However, since I knew it was their anniversary and I knew how sweet they were I was just amused. Plus, I kept thinking about how much I wish my parents were there. I would give anything to hear my dad singing along to Pennies From Heaven...but I never will. My mom and dad won't be celebrating any more anniversaries because my dad doesn't even know who my mom is anymore. My mother may never see another show at the Chicago Theater and I know how much she and my dad used to love to go into Chicago and see shows. Because I was a late-in-life baby and my mother never liked to leave me with a baby sitter they would take me too. I saw Pippen when I was 8 (highly inappropriate, but I didn't really get it at the time). I saw Richard Burton in Camelot. I saw Katherine Hepburn in CoCo. I saw Evita (which is why I love Mandy Patinkin so much) and Beatlemania and The Wiz and Annie and so many more I can't even remember them all. My mom and dad loved to hear live music too. One of their favorite places was called Rick's Cafe and it was just a little jazz bar. They didn't always take me when they went there. Then I would be stuck at home with my stupid brother or sister. In any case, I do remember them taking me there once to see Oscar Peterson because he was my hero. Because I was (and am) a piano player, my dad made sure we had a table right by the stage sort-of even with the keyboard so I could watch Oscar's hands while he played. It was an incredible night. I drank virgin Pina Coladas and watched Oscar Peterson play piano until about 1:00 am. I even talked to him. I think I was about 12 at the time. It was a school night and I know I slept all the way home...which is probably a good thing considering Rick's Cafe had a 3 or 4 drink minimum and my folks were most certainly slightly shit-faced by the time we left.

Anyway, I would have loved to have taken them to see Mandy Patinkin, but thanks to Alzheimer's, my parents will never celebrate their anniversary like Maury and Sophie got to. My dad can't even put together a complete sentence anymore. But I still remember him as the man who slipped the maitre'd at Rick's Cafe a $50 so I could sit and watch Oscar Peterson's hands.

Anyway, at some point during the night, I noticed that there was a group of four guys in the box next to us. I noticed because one of them made some non-subtle comment about Sophie singing along to Brother Can You Spare A Dime. I tell you what, if I ever conveyed the sentiment, "Shut the fuck up, you stupid asshole" with just a stare, it was at that very moment. I must have looked fierce because I thought the kid (he was probably a 23 year old theater major) was going to wet himself. After the show was over (And the show was unbelievable. When Mandy sang Bring Him Home from Les Miserables I cried and cried. At one point Tony looked at me during that song and was surprised to see me crying. He just doesn't get it. He doesn't like musical theater. Sometimes I can't believe his father was gay! Did he learn nothing from his dad??) I actually hugged Sophie when we said good-bye. Weird, huh, since you all know I am so completely and totally not a toucher. But the whole evening had been so emotional for me and I just had to hug somebody. Yes, I know I could have hugged Tony....but I really wanted to hug Sophie. I was thinking about how she had told me that one of her kids had purchased the tickets for them...and how I wondered if that adult child realized how lucky he was to have such vibrant and interesting parents. I wondered why that child and spouse hadn't come to the show with them. Didn't he know that he might not always have the opportunity to spend time with his folks, enjoying music together and (yes) maybe being a little embarrassed when they sang along? I know that Sophie and Maury probably forgot all about us when they left the theater, but I will never forget them. They were one of the things that made that night so wonderful.

Oh! One of the other things that I loved about the show was how Mandy ended it. He looked out into the audience, lowered his imaginary sword and said, "Hello. My name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die." LOVE HIM!!