Memories Are Funny Things

So, the play is over. It went marvelous. The stage kiss got better each time, as did my characterization. I felt like my character. Pretty cool stuff. Tons of people came to support me and my fellow actors / actresses. Lots of thanks to those people who made the play possible, not to mention those who have impacted me and reminded me that mentally and physically disabled people are people, too.
If you didn't know, we performed the play, Flowers for Algernon. It's about a disabled young man (Charlie Gordon) who receives an operation that will make him "smart". I played Charlie's teacher, Alice Kinnian. The most important quote of the play is when Charlie says that he is a human being, "And I was before you wheeled me into that operating room". It gives me chills.
And to think - my last high school play is this thought-provoking, deeper-meaning, powerful play.
The poem (You Remain, below) is about the fact that life goes on. After the best time with friends, you still wake up in the morning and go on about your life. After the worst fight or break-up or whatever, there's tomorrow. And after all that, what remains? What's left?
So, the play is over. Tuesday at 1:30pm, we'll be packing up props and sweeping the stage instead of rehearsing a scene and setting the stage. We'll be smiling at pictures that have been posted on Facebook instead of smiling for pictures that haven't been posted yet.
And some people may say: So, it wasn't worth it. Which, obviously, it was. The message of the play (disabled and handicapped people are people, too), the friendships that have grown, the memories that have formed... All those things are worth it. Definitely worth it!