One Year On Broadway

I looked out at the crowd from the stage, bursting with gratitude. Like It’s a Wonderful Life when George gets the gift of seeing the importance of each of his past moments, I thought back to times when I’d been frustrated by what seemed like dead-ends or giant, gaping potholes in our journey down the road of life. Like everyone else, I’d had moments of disappointment, being passed over for promotions or career changes that didn’t work out the way I’d planned, things I regretted. I was always distracted by each setback, never able to see the bigger picture. In that one moment, I saw that every failure had led to something even better. All of those past disappointments, woven through the fabric of our lives, had brought us to this place. Though I had been discouraged in those moments, if anything had been different, if any one of those past defeats had been a victory instead, I might not have been on this stage. I never would have been traveling to New York for work, and I wouldn’t have seen the broadway.com article about Once on This Island being revived. Everything in our lives for the last twenty-six years had led us to this moment. Everything.