June 2018

Tonight we went to see Carol Burnett at the Chicago Theatre. It was the first of her two shows here in the Windy City; I purchased the tickets as a Christmas present for Earl. We were all delighted with the show. Earl and I were a little concerned that Jamie wouldn’t know much about Carol (he’s a little younger than us), but he enjoyed the show and I saw him look at Wikipedia only once.

Carol Burnett with Elizabeth Montgomery in the 1963 movie “Who’s Been Sleeping In My Bed”

Carol’s show as basically an extended Q&A session like she used to do at the beginning of her variety show back in the 1960s and 70s, interspersed with clips from the show. We all agreed this approach was quite brave as she had no idea what kind of questions she would get from the audience. People asked her about current events, what it was like working with the very celebrities she had on her show, about growing up, and some asked for advice on how to break into the business. Carol had a way of weaving her answers with humor and it was truly a fun show. We laughed a lot.

I thought about asking a question; I had always wondered if she had improvised her dance in “Who’s Been Sleeping In My Bed”, but I none of the ushers made their way to our row. All in all it was a great experience and I was a little choked up when she first came out on stage; it’s great to live in a city where it’s easy to see a legend in person.

Everyone was smiling at the end of the show. It was a really good time.

Earl is having a stress test as I write this. I told him this morning if he was fine after living with me for 22 years, he would pass this stress test with flying colors. He chuckled.

I am playing the role of supporting husband during his test, waiting in a common area at the Northwestern Medical campus. The dings of the nearby elevators indicate the busy traffic from here to there and back. People watching is always enjoyable for me. The two clocks within my eyesight, which should be synchronized to the second but are not, are making me a little crazy. Clocks designed to be synchronized should be synchronized. “Close enough” is never good enough, especially when we are counting the seconds of life.

I’m starting to realize too many reminders that I am approaching in my half century mark. Life is outpacing my mentality. I still feel like the naive farm boy I was 40 years ago.

Always find a reason to smile.