I won’t address the elephant in the room except to say I’m enraged.
That anger has to be channeled into “All Hands on Deck” by everyone. So I’ve signed up to help the Biden campaign, as I did in 2020.
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But today is my baby sister’s 60th birthday! I’m 11½ years older than her, so it’s hard to grasp that she’s 60. She’s a beautiful 60, both inside and out. Happy Birthday, dearest Meredith! I love you to the moon and back!
And tomorrow? The anniversary of this day:
But it’s not just another anniversary of the day we met, it’s the 30th anniversary of the day we met. We’ve been together for 30 years! Since we met when we were in our early 40s, it’s a big deal!
You know the story, so I’ll be brief. My friend, the late Kathy McGrath (an actress at the Old Globe Theater) lived in Ocean Beach and threw a Fourth of July party every year. Actors, actresses, staff, designers…everyone came. It was my first full summer in San Diego, and my first ‘Kathy’ party. I had a great time and later in the day, as I went outside (to the barbecues) and came back inside a few times, I noticed this guy (sitting right where you see him in this photo) leaning forward and smiling at me every time I came inside. I knew who he was as I had seen him in a production of Morning’s at Seven when I flew into town the previous summer for my job interview. Kathy was in that production, as well. I remember looking at his photo in the program during intermission because I was so impressed with his performance and I thought “He’s very interesting looking!” Fast forward to about a week before Kathy’s party. The Globe held it’s summer season Company Call where everyone involved in the three shows going on in three theaters was introduced. At the beginning of the Call, Jack O’Brien announced the names of the new Associate Artists, an honor only awarded to those who had done inspiring and excellent work at the Globe for a number of years. Don, who I had noticed already because he was sitting across the aisle and two rows back from me, was one of the honorees. He had no idea it was going to happen and he walked onstage and spoke off the cuff and he was very sweet and funny.
ANYWAY, back to the party: I am a shy person and normally I would have smiled back but only that. This time, after the 4th or 5th smile, I decided to walk across the room and introduce myself. He, of course, didn’t know who I was because I was not coaching the production of Twelfth Night that he was in. I sat down and we started talking about the fact that we couldn’t believe we were in our early forties! How could that be? (Older Claudia and Don now roll their eyes at this.)
By the end of the conversation, I was in ‘crush’ mode, seriously intrigued by and attracted to this man. We all walked down to the beach for the fireworks and Don was sitting several feet away. At one point, he looked back at me, caught my eye, and gave me a big smile.
Little did I know, I was a goner,
It took a while to have a first date as our schedules were different and jam-packed. I also had to engineer several ‘accidental’ meetings in the hallways of the theater in order to flirt with him. (Sounds like high school!) I ran into him at an opening night party where we flirted some more and where my wallet was stolen. He offered to drive me home and comforted me and, as we stood outside on my front stoop, suddenly leaned forward and kissed me. Eventually, we went to the beach on a date that ended with another incredible kiss as he left for the theater, and that was it.
Though I certainly fought it as I liked my single life and was deathly afraid of commitment.
But it was inevitable.
I am profoundly grateful for that party, that particular Fourth of July, where we did indeed see fireworks!
The photo was taken by our dear friend Jonathan McMurtry, who passed away a few years ago and who is greatly missed.
Stay safe.
Happy Wednesday.
