UNFOLDING IRVING

I first met Irving at a dress rehearsal. My first impression was that he did not fit ‘the part’… and secondly, he definitely did not fit the suit. You see, Irving was to play the part of “The Troll Residing Under The Bridge”. Not only did the suit not suit him but the bridge was three feet tall at the peak of it’s arch, so there had best be some nifty fitting all the way around. In reality, Irving was just shy of 6 ft. and just out of grade school.

No one. Not Irving, the actors, the students, the parents the teachers, the janitors, the passers by….no one, believed this horrible miscasting, including I, but the final decision rests with Miss Christie and she put her foot down and insisted, and when she put down it was a heavy sound. She had a vision. We can only assume, in her mind, she saw Irving folded just right, like some origami crane, tucked tight under flimsy little bridge, taut in that short little tunnel only to Emerge!!!! Unfolding gracefully to become a most magnificent bird! A heron. A crane. But this crane collapsed, and of course it was all a disaster.

But within the calamity caused by the crashing crane, there was a transformation of sorts, even though the dust had not settled, Irving took to stage front and addressed the attendees and apologized with grace. “I’m oh so sorry, I just can’t fit in that space!”

The audience roared in appreciation and gave Irving a standing ovation. Is was as festive as it could be, for all in attendance, except Miss Christie.

Find your own stature in life. Stand tall. Don’t let someone try to squeeze you, where you know you don’t belong.