Last October, I embarked on an old career.  I stepped on the stage to perform again.  The play was, “Southern Fried Funeral,” in which I portrayed Ozella Meeks, the church lady who tended to all the funeral arrangements.  I guess you could say I was typecast, since everyone knows I’m a church lady.  It was a true challenge to myself to see if I still had the ability to memorize lines and bring a character to life.

As you see in the photograph, I was the recipient of a pie in the face at the end of each performance.  Let me tell you, this is something that has to be choreographed as precisely as a fight scene.  At first I tried to defend myself and the pie went in all directions.  As I anticipated getting that slippery confection, it took a lot of restraint to just let it hit me without looking like I was expecting it.

Well, the same theatre which produced this show last year discovered that there’s a sequel called, “Southern Fried Nuptials.”  It was decided to put this on the docket for July of this year, so this is how I’ll be spending my summer evenings from now on.  Most all of the original cast will be on hand to create more laughter.  This time, there are no flying pie missiles, but who knows.

As I embark on this adventure again, I am again plagued with self doubt.  I’ll be 77 years old in a month.  I tire out when I take more than twenty steps.  My memory has taken a big dive in the past six months.  Last time, I kept rewriting my lines and delivered them in my own words.  Who knows what will happen this time?  Thank goodness I have a director with lots of patience.

So here I go again.  There’s no stopping me.  I wonder if there’s room for performers in heaven?