Tuesdays With Rita: Childhood Performances

Children love to be the center of attention. Many thrive on stage. I never did but I do remember three times I was in a school play. I feel like there must have been more but I sure don't remember them.

The first one I remember was in second grade when I went to live with my grandparents for the year. We put on a Christmas pageant and I was a gift. I can still remember all us little girls with big boxes around our bodies trying to get down a narrow hallway and on the stage without being crushed. It seems to me the boxes were about 4 feet square but then I was pretty small. The love of my life, at that time, Jon, was a clown. More about him another time.

For the second play I was back at home and going to E. E. Morrison Elementary. I don't have any idea what the play was or what part I had. All I remember is my mom coming in late and sitting pretty much center front. She had on her police uniform and I was so proud.

She was the chief dispatcher and that's her sitting in front. I don't remember any of the other women.

The third play was in 8th grade after we moved to Arizona. I had gone to junior high for almost two years in Kansas and was so looking forward to being a big ninth grader. Instead we arrived in Phoenix on Easter Day and I had to go back to grade school because that's the way that district was set up.

We did a follies type show and I was in the chorus line while another girl mimed "Georgie Girl."

Remember that song. It still drives me nuts.

What programs were you in as a child? Tell us about your experiences.