A funny thing happened to me on the way to Dusseldorf. It may have been my first lesson, that ever slapped me in the face which demonstrated one needs to be careful what they ask for; possibly be a bit more specific when asking for it, isn’t such a bad idea either.
I think it was in 1986 or 87, when I landed my first contract to tour internationally with the company of A Chorus Line. I wasn’t a dancer, no. Sure I can dance, I did musicals for years, but never would I call myself a dancer with a seismic-skill of one who would be cast in a Broadway Show. But I was a singer, and sing I did. I had never been abroad when Joe Papp hired me to take a trip to the other side of this great earth of ours and be a part of experiences which would change the face and soul of who I was to be.
When I was hired, I was doing a one-woman show by the name of Betty Chevrolet, but that was about it. So I was ecstatic when I got the call. My best friend, Stephen, was already with this specific company and as you can imagine, that only heightened the excitement of this opportunity. Contract struck, I received my tickets and contract by Fed-X and I was off to Dusseldorf Germany, where my friend Stephen was to meet me and we would train in to Bonn for the evening show.
This was during a time, when we were just starting to see some aero-terrorism, of sorts, and my Mother, bless her, was terribly concerned about some nut hi-jacking our plane. But I was a-sparkle just considering the adventure and told her it was my chance to see the world; I would grow-up and come back a woman of, of, of (And do you hear the music; because this is where you should, if you don’t.) Yes, worldliness. Yes, yes, yes: Worldliness. This is just what I told her, “But Mama, I will grow-up and come back a woman of worldliness.”
A week later, I am catching my connecting flight in SF and I board. I had just had knee surgery a few months earlier and was relieved to see, though I was in the middle of a string of 12 seats, at least there were no seats in front of me—just a wall. To the left of me was a woman, Heike (High’kuh), kind face, but stern, piercing eyes of a deep-ocean or midnight-blue. She was from Munich; a tall-glass of water around 80 years old; spoke English well, as well as German, French and Aramaic. We took to each other immediately and as two old girls can do of any generation, the chat ensued. To my right, was a fairly and generously, portly gentleman of about 400 lbs, eyes as deep and dark as a rich-chocolate glass and almost a glimmer to him, as he smiled. His name, Doron (Dore-rone’) had been in SF on a gem search or something like that. He didn’t speak a lick of English, but he and Heike spoke fluently to each other in French and Aramaic… which immediately made Heike my friendly interpreter. Apparently, he had a very successful jewelry store in Tel Aviv, according to Heike and I could tell by her inflection she was in the process of demonstrating exactly how a serious Frau flirts.
Time seemed to be flying (no pun intended, of course) when Heike leaned in said very quietly: “Doron thinks your hands and feet are very beautiful”. I had to laugh out loud, I really did, and asked her to thank him for me. Now, let’s keep in mind this man was the age of my Father. And I felt, as a young and very impressive woman, flattered and thought here I am…an older man attracted to my hands and feet! But in no way did I find a desire to flirt with him. Three times my size; three times my age; didn’t speak the same language—a complete and utter bust. He was Dad material, not date material. Now about 7 hours into the flight, my knee is killing me; swelling; aching and warming up with a little fever. Doron saw me rubbing my knee and took his hand and patted his shoulder, as if to say, here—use my shoulder as a pillow and rest. I’d be a liar if I said it didn’t sound good to me and off my other boot went as I cozied into his shoulder to nap out the rest of the flight, if lucky. As my lids sleepily blinked and finally closed, I could hear him and Heike speaking and little by little their voices fading into a dream land. I was gone.
What seemed like minutes later, but come to find out was about 60 minutes later, I felt a funny sensation on my hand, while I was somewhat asleep: A warmth; a comfort. I opened my eyes and what do I see; (cue music) Doron suckling on my index and baby finger, like a little Jersey calf suckling its newly-discovered Mama. I sat up immediately, stiff as a board; yanked my hand out of his mouth and put on my boots! I looked as if I had just been strapped into an electric chair. Heike, in her foolish wisdom instructed me to relax, it was a compliment, he wanted me, and after all, he was a successful jeweler. Stymied, I shot her a look as if she had lost her last brain cell but said nothing. In fact, now that I think about it, not one of us spoke through the brief remainder of the trip.
I said my goodbyes, as we disembarked and walked off the plane to a very sterile-white walk-way; dotted with German Shepherds; German Guards and plenty of Ammo stacked along the hall way. As we poured into customs, I saw doors open and close automatically, as people were searched and allowed by the agents through these doors into the public area. I was so relieved to see a head bobbing up and down, jumping up to be seen; because there was my dear friend Stephen; artistically bouncing, showing off all of those years of ballet class, to welcome me.
Once through, I told Stephen the story whilst training through the city on our way to Bonn. We laughed like we were kids again and laughed harder when I told him how I gloated about becoming worldly to Mama. Well, I guess Doron’s hazing set me on my path to worldliness—yet, little did I know.
Of course, fast forward thirty years and I laugh even harder, as I come to understand what worldliness might be. It might be the understanding of others so incredibly different than one’s self that we then realize we are all connected; all brothers and sisters on this old planet of ours. It might be not how far you travel around the globe, but how far you travel into your soul; how deeply you see into another’s heart and how you conduct yourself, as you take your rightful place amongst the living. Yep, it just might be…