A quick one today as my car wouldn’t start. The battery was dead. Somehow, the dome light got left on the other day, probably as Don was unloading the stuff to recycle at the dump. Anyway, we had it jumped and the guy who came here was so friendly, cheery, and helpful that we immediately felt better. And he was wearing a mask.

As I got a new battery less than three years ago, it should be okay. We’re going to drive around for a bit, on the advice of a local discount tire center that replaced my last battery, and then stop in and ask them to test the charge on the battery. Hopefully, it will be fine. If not, we’ll have it replaced.

Oy.

Don’s car is still not starting consistently and it has to do with the auto-lock device on the car. It makes us crazy. We found out my car wasn’t working this morning because Don was going to take it to the local supermarket at 7 am. After my car wouldn’t start, he started his and we drove to the store. I stayed in the car so he didn’t have to turn it off. We just kept it running.

So we need my car!

That’s one of the paths that Don has opened up in the woods. He’s doing a great job.

Okay, friends. See you tomorrow.

Stay safe.

Happy Friday.

Don and I just got finished having one of those conversations that remind us of the joys and heartbreaks in life and the paths we choose to take. Tonight we are watching the last episode of Cheers. The finale was originally ninety minutes long, but it has since been broken up into three half-hour long episodes. We’re on the last of the three. Don did some research and found out it had aired on May 20, 1993. He doesn’t remember watching it and now we know why – he was in Morning’s at Seven  at the Old Globe. It had just opened because the reviews came out that day.

That means that within a week or so of May 20th, I was about to fly out to San Diego to be interviewed for the job I would eventually get, which would take me to the opposite side of the country for the next eight years. I know this because during the weekend of my interview, I attended the matinee of Morning’s at Seven. My friend Kathy was in it, as well as my future friend Lynne Griffin (who I had seen at the Stratford Festival years earlier,) Sada Thompson (who I would later work with and who was a great friend of ours,) and a guy named Don Sparks. Don and Lynnie sort of stole the show and I remember loving his performance, reading his bio in the program, looking at his headshot and thinking…hmmm, he’s intriguing.

I wouldn’t meet him until a year later when he came back to the Globe to play Malvolio in Twelfth Night. I recognized him at the Company Call for the summer productions – an event where everyone was introduced – which took place the last week of June. How do I know? Because Don was made an Associate Artist at that Company Call and he talked about having just turned 43 a few days before. (He will be 69 tomorrow.) This was an emotional time for all of us at the Globe and in the MFA program. On May 1st of that year, one of our students had been murdered while leaving the park late at night with his girlfriend, who was also one of our students. He had been just about to graduate with his MFA. I can honestly say that the loss of John at the age of 24 is hardest thing I’ve ever been through. (Later that summer, I would attend the trial of his murderers.)

In one of life’s unexpected twists and turns, when profound grief overwhelms you and you think you will never find joy again, I met Don on July 4th – just two months later.

This is a time of year that is always full of memories for us and we always take the time to remember all that went on in 1993 and 1994. What if I hadn’t applied for that job? What if Don hadn’t called the Globe to see if anything was available for him and then found out they wanted him for Malvolio? What if I had never had the honor and joy of knowing John? Of meeting Don? Of working at the Old Globe?

All of this triggered by finding out when that final episode of Cheers aired.

Don also lost a dear friend to murder in the same place, Balboa Park. David Huffman, a wonderful actor, was knifed to death when he ran to try and stop a thief who had just broken into someone’s motor home. That happened in 1983. This beautiful place, which Balboa Park indeed is, was also the scene of the deaths of two people we loved.

We are awash in memories, both heartbreaking and joyful.

That’s what this time of year brings to us in various degrees every year. We honor those we’ve lost, we express gratitude for our blessings and the seeming serendipity of meetings, connections, and what turn out to be momentous moments, of paths chosen, phone calls made, timing, and loss.

Stay safe.

Happy Tuesday.