The lines that reach into my soul

I wanted to take a moment and talk about some of the specific lines in the show that reach far into my soul and make me FEEL something. I don’t know if I've talked about how apathetic I am about movies lately because it seems like I’m watching so many that I simply cannot dredge up any deep feelings for. Perhaps it’s because I watch too many movies. Perhaps it’s because I’m tired and busy and just I’m just not prepared to focus on movies right now. I don’t know the answer to those questions but I do know that one thing I love about this script is that it touches me so deeply. I’m actually ELATED to say that there isn't a single piece in the show that I don’t care for. Through my cast’s hard work each of the pieces has taken on a dimension I hadn't seen before and endeared me to it. Here are my favorite lines from each piece.

About the relationship change between mother and daughter when a new generation arrives. “’Bye-bye Mom. Bye-bye.’ Wishing….yes, wishing I could call her back.”

About dad having a head cold “If I get sick, I will kill him with these very hands. And if my baby gets sick, I will kill him, and then myself.”

About expectations, especially the ones you didn't know about “Expect to cry in the aisles of Rite Aid when he’s sick, and pray to a God you don’t believe in to make him well. Just make him a happy, healthy kid!  And a Democrat. A real one.”

About letting your child be who they are: “Dear God, give me a sign. Tell me I haven’t totally screwed him up by letting him come here like this.”

About wanting to be accepted as normal, despite having differences: “'We’re the same as every other family.' 'Well, you know, actually – no. You’re not.'”

About fitting in and being recognized as a parent who is just trying to raise a good kid: “Sometimes we don’t feel so different from everyone else … and other times it’s “Where’s your mommy?”

About having moments where objects flying is the ONLY logical conclusion: “For the record, I don’t have bad aim. I miss on purpose.”

About what having children can mean to those who don’t have them: “I felt shut out and illuminated all at once: They were each other’s family, and I was just so tired of trying to force my way in.”

About saying things out of frustration that you don’t really mean: “'No, you ruined everything!’ and instantly I try to take it away.”

About the emptying nest: “It was a highway of tears, which sounds like a song. And then we were home. And then we heard this…The quiet.”

About adding children to the mix through marriage: “'He’s hers now.’ ‘You know this?’ ‘I know it for a fact.’ ‘How?’ ‘How often does your husband see his mother?’”

About losing the power to protect your children: “Like you want to be the one to always go first in the dark, make sure there’s nothin’ scary there, and if there is, you want to be the one to make it safe. So, it’s just frustrating that you can’t do that.”

About the shift from mom taking care of you, to you taking care of mom: “You can’t live on cookies and TV. Mom, I think you’re vegetating a little bit.”

About how choice has changed the family dynamic somewhat: "Because you have come uninvited into this household. Uninvited, but eventually not unloved.”

About how motherhood changes everything: “When one second you weren't there, and the next second you were.”

I can honestly say that I identify with every one of these statements as a mother, daughter, or human being. These lines are just a scratch on the surface of what makes this play, and the experiences detailed in it amazing. And heartfelt.