I'll be home for (every) Christmas.
I love Thanksgiving. Really, I do. Thanksgiving in our family means catching up with all 150 of our relatives in Rayne, Louisiana* while stuffing our faces with the most delicious Cajun food. It's always a delightful (and somewhat crazy) day. But what I really look forward to are the days after Thanksgiving.
Christmastime is here and everyone can feel it. Suddenly, all of the houses in my neighborhood are sparkling with Christmas lights of red and green, the songs on the radio fill my mind with images of snow and mistletoe, and the air smells of winter frost and cinnamon spice.
To celebrate the beginning of the season, I snuggled up on the couch with a warm blanket and leftover Thanksgiving cookies and proceeded to watch The Family Stone, one of the most heartwarming (and hilarious) Christmas movies of all time. It made me imagine growing older, starting a family of my own, and reuniting with my parents and brothers every Christmas. I can just see us, ten years from now, still as fun and dysfunctional as ever, but with new additions. Oh, I get so excited just thinking about what the future holds! Who knows where we'll be in 2019? But I do know that my wonderful family will mean just as much to me as they do now, perhaps even more.
*I was born in Louisiana but my family moved to Texas when I was three. We always go back during the holidays to see our relatives.
I am a bookseller!
Oookay, announcement time.
I am currently employed at my favorite store in the whole wide world... The one and only BARNES & NOBLE in the Woodlands!
Aka, my happy place. The place where all of my problems disappear.
Something bittersweet.
"Such a sisterhood, brotherhood, comradeship. Like no other place— no other time on earth."
A Piece of My Heart was performed for the last time* this weekend, in front of three thousand theatre students at the Selena Auditorium in Corpus Christi. After almost two months, we revisited the world of Martha, MaryJo, Sissy, Whitney, Leeann, and Steele to tell the same incredible story that has brought out the deepest emotions in all of us. I'll never forget the way I felt after the play was over, when I stood at the foot of the stage, hand-in-hand with Audrey and Mal, while every person in that great big auditorium stood up to applause our performance. But even sweeter was thirty seconds after curtain call, when Mr. Cottom caught us all in one huge hug backstage, kissed each of our foreheads, and proudly told us how amazing we were. Even if our last performance had been less than impressive, it wouldn't have mattered. We told our story the best we possibly could under the circumstances, and that was the only thing that mattered.
It's been a rollercoaster ride, frightening yet exhilarating, and I'd do it again in a heartbeat if I could. But it's finally time to put this show to rest, something bittersweet. It goes without saying that A Piece of My Heart—the play, the girls, and the entire experience—will always hold a very special place in my own.I want.
