50 for 50: 1980
YEAR: 1980
AGE: Turned 10 on Nov. 6
LOCATION: Chicago, Rascher Avenue
CUBS' RECORD: 64-98
SONGS I LIKED: "Roll with the Changes" by REO Speedwagon; "Train in Vain" by the Clash
MOVIES I SAW: "Empire Strikes Back," "The Blues Brothers"
TV SHOWS I WATCHED: "Solid Gold," "Real People"
Fourth grade and 1980 represent a switched flipped in my brain. Gazing back through time, that year separated in my mind being a little kid and being a not-so-little kid. We all have milestones in our lives, but this one, for me, is when things became much, much different. I was more analytical, more perceptive, more introspective. And what's funny: I realized this transition had occurred when I probably about 12.
Getting back to the photo, in the spring of 1980, St. Eugene's planned a variety show in its brand new parish center/gym, with each grade putting on a short production with singing and maybe a little dancing (I type that sentence and can't help but remember the music video for "Do the Bartman" in which Principal Skinner announces as Bart's class begins dancing, "Here's a group that needs no introduction: your children." The fourth-grade teachers came up with an ambitious idea: "It's a Small World," with kids dressed for many different cultures and singing the chorus lyrics in the appropriate language.
During the planning, Mrs. Glynn, my homeroom teacher and one of my favorites at St. Eugene's in my years there, asked the class if anyone hadn't come up with costume for any of the various cultures we were highlighting. I raised my hand -- I really hadn't given the variety show much thought. The act needed a narrator : a "tour guide" to introduce each culture before the kids started singing and dancing. Because I raised my hand, I now had lines ...
I can't remember at the time if I quite knew what I had gotten myself into. Not only did I need to memorize and recite many lines, but I also would be speaking into a microphone at the front side of the stage. It might have been a little nerve-wracking, to the point I worried myself into a small cold.
We performed the act three times -- one dress rehearsal for the rest of the school, and two nights for the paying public. Our grade rehearsed a lot, and the finished production was pretty impressive for a bunch of fourth-grade amateurs. (The fourth-grade productions in the variety show were always good; the next year, it was a collection of Disney songs.)
I survived my time on the stage and didn't screw up. But I wore myself out, possibly with anxiety, that Mom let me stay home from school the day after the first night's performance -- I think she let Mrs. Glynn know I'd be there for the final performance but I needed to rest. I arrived at school and looked in my desk to find two donuts Mrs. Glynn had left me as a thank you/good job.
The 1980 variety show might have been the first time I tried something way out of my comfort zone. I wasn't much of risk-taker before then, and to this day, I still am calculating and hesitant before taking anything more than a minor chance. Kids occasionally need to do something that scares them or seems impossible, because not only does it start to hone their risk analysis skills, but also because success inspires confidence. Combined with good grades, I emerged from fourth grade on top of the world. I learned how to roller skate a few weeks later and enjoyed a bonkers-fun summer.
However, I must admit something: When I raised my hand that day, I forgot that Mom and I had come up with a costume: Mexico. Maybe fate simply had another plan for me.
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