Skinnamarink!

It was just like old times...only completely different.

At 10:45 or so on Sunday, May 4, the ushers for the Sharon, Lois and Bram show opened the doors to the theater. Now, in the old days, I would have already been there. In fact, I would probably have escaped into the backstage hallway long before the door even opened, so as not to get trampled. But this time, I hadn't come by myself as I used to. I'd come with eight other people, only two of which I'd met as of thirty-six hours earlier. The rest I'd met on a Yahoo group run by one of their other old friends, Paul Leary. We'd all met the night before and had wandered over to the theater early.

Very early. Bram, upon arriving at about nine-fifteen or nine-thirty, deemed us completely insane. "Aren't you COLD?" he asked. But with a smile on his face, of course, as he greeted us all before heading into the theater to tune and prepare.

A photographer at the theater took pictures of our group, and taped us singing "Skinnamarink." This was already more attention than I was used to at one of these... but then again, there were nine of us. I was no longer a fly on the wall.

Sharon was already in the theater when we got in...I ran down to greet her, then introduced her to Patti. Patti got the hug she had been waiting for for twenty years, and I was so happy - after having my own dream come true in much the same way, it felt wonderful to help make it happen for my friend.

Then Lois arrived with her standard accessories - big sunglasses and an assortment of black tote bags. I hadn't seen her in nine years, and Sharon smiled as she ducked out of the way so that I could run over and hug her. It was wonderful to see her again - just wonderful.

It was chaos, but it was fun. At one point, I found myself perched on the stage left stairwell, conversations flying through the air behind me, as I pulled out my hairbrush to tame my windswept hair. Lois' glasses were sitting on the stage, Bram's guitar waiting patiently by the microphones.

I was home. After so many years, so many ups and downs in my life, drifting so far away I never thought I'd return... I had come home.

The concert was lovely; they opened with "Tingalayo." I remembered Sharon and Bram singing it last year in Winona. Lois jumped in with the first verse...except it wasn't her turn. I giggled...I can't even count the number of times I've done that in just the last month, at KidStage. They sang "Once I saw Three Goats." We all laughed at the turtles wearing girdles verse. We'd just been talking the night before about how no one knows what a girdle is any more, but it rhymes with turtle, so no matter. :) After the "25 Years" film it was "Hey Dum" and "Skinny"...or, in layman's terms, "Hey Dum Diddley Dum" and "Skinnamarink."

I still remember how I learned those "shorthand" titles. My first time meeting them - the Syracuse Symphony show, February 99. Lois sent me off exploring as she got ready, and I was twirling about onstage when the stage manager taped the set lists to the mic stands. I felt like I had been let in on a very important secret.

The festival people kicked us out pretty quickly after the show, and we took pictures in the lot behind the theater. Lots and lots of pictures. And we talked some more, and Lois showed us pictures of her lovely new granddaughter, Tessa, and I showed pictures of Anthony. Then we all split off.

It went so quickly. I felt like I had blinked and the whole morning had gone by... but it had been wonderful.

Oh, and there was more to the weekend. Much more. Sharon's stories of her trip to Africa. A pair of elephant earrings that we thought we'd have to mail to her, until we saw her passing right by us on the street. An afternoon wandering through Kensington with Patti, and a giant orange sign saying "Kensington Market" that led to a long-running joke.

Hey, Patti, where's Kensington Market? It should be around here...

Now, you may be wondering why I'm writing all this in a blog that is supposedly about my work in children's music. But I wouldn't have found my way into this business if it weren't for Sharon, Lois and Bram - they are my inspiration, my roots and my musical heritage. They are a part of my heart and a part of me. They belong here, just like I belong on the side of the stage, brushing my hair as Lois gets ready to perform.

They are my home.