Decision Week

When I was four, my family moved to West Vancouver and into a house on a hill. Our driveway was steep; at the top it leveled off and at its end was a garage. Everyone of my generation remembers where we were when we heard Kennedy had been assassinated. Well in the same way, I remember the first time I saw that garage because the moment I saw it, I saw a theatre (with an odd wooden curtain that went up and down).

That’s how I know theatre is in my blood. I started putting on plays with neighbourhood pals right away.

All my life, the number one position on my bucket list was to see a play of mine professionally produced. When I was in my late twenties, I had an idea for a play and so I wrote out a scenario and conscripted two actor friends to develop it with me. It was a monster hit. It even got a rave review in Variety, but the actors claimed exclusive authorship and I had to go to court to win back my rights. It was truly sad, but I won in court.

I never followed up and late in life I abandoned my dream and, instead, I self-produced a play about my life. That went well too; I re-wrote it as a screenplay and sold it, but self-production is not satisfying.

So … tomorrow is the first day of the week in which a BIG step toward my life-long dream will come true or not.

It’s also the week Bruce will move to Holy Family Hospital to get earnestly into rehabilitation.

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Today’s likely to be hot again. Yesterday was 25° and humid so it felt hotter. It’s ideal summer weather, exactly the kind of days you dream of all winter — the kind of days that once pulled me outdoors for a four-to-five hour walks. But today, as I did yesterday, I’ll stay home except to go the two blocks to visit Bruce in the morning and again in the afternoon.

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Me: “An estimated 3% of the population has a gene that allows them to fully function on six or less hours of sleep a night, rather than the general recommendation of eight hours.”