Jims of Wyzdom - June 15, 2018

Father’s Day, June 17: Another year, another Father’s Day. Props to all you fathers out there, as theater people say…I have no idea what “props” means, except for the furniture hand and set dressing of theater. And why do opera people say “Toy toy toy!?” Did I ever tell you I had THREE fathers? Yes, I wouldn’t make this up… Bill Orr was my biological father, out of my tiny life by age 2; then Marvin Brown married my mother when I was 4 and adopted me at 8; then PapaJack Held came into my life at 18, overlapping with Marvin, and adopted me in 2004. I am writing a dramatic essay for my memoirs.

Opera / Film: I got emails telling that “West Side Story” would be playing on screens on June 24, but in checking Regal’s website, it is NOT listed. On the other hand, Regal will be showing the Met in HD Summer Encores at 7 PM as follows: “Madama Butterfly” on June 20; “Il Trovatore” on June 27; “Eugene Onegin” on July 11; and “Turandot” on July 18.

Don’t ever retire from anything. Die panting in harness or bleeding at the joints. Just don’t let anything retire you but death. [Novelist Reynolds Price]

Obviously, I did not ‘die in harness’ but I was beginning to wonder about my old friend and colleague, Jim Miltenberger, who taught at WVU’s School of Music for over 50 years and only just retired! Perhaps it’s different with musicians, but I knew I was ready at 67 because I realized I was having much more fun teaching classes for OLLI than 20 year-olds. Also, I had plenty of things to keep me busy, not least of which is the Writing I’ve been doing, ably abetted by our Writer’s Interest Group and Alan Rosenbluth’s Story class. I have no idea if anything will turn out to be publishable, but why not try? I know a lot of you that just love to travel, and good for you when you can go to far-flung places at advanced ages. Not sure I am that brave.

I think I am in that stage of getting used to getting OLD. I feel pretty good most of the time, but have had a few little shocks to the system that have alerted me to the need to reconsider how I do many things. Does everyone go through this? Please tell me…I would deeply appreciate your comments and stories.

To be seventy years young is sometimes far more cheerful and hopeful than to be forty years old. [Poet and Physician Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr.]

It’s life, isn’t it? You plow ahead and make a hit. And you plow on and someone passes you. Then someone passes them. Time levels. [Actress Katharine Hepburn]

My next column will be written late in our week at Chautauqua, where I have to steal enough brochures, etc. to make up the stuff I’ll hand out in my class. But I should be able to share some adventures of the week.  Until then…

Just Jim