Random Acts of Living for the Moment



Last summer I saw the movie Momma Mia! and fell in love with the story and with Meryl Streep. I was awed and overjoyed that a woman older than me would sing and dance like no one was watching, with no regrets. Most of us that are 50+ know that we still have all this capacity for being "Donna" in us but we seldom see it being acted out on a big screen in a movie theater. Its confirmation, sort of.



Back to my story... After seeing the movie I had a desire to meet Meryl Streep and thank her for what she did for us old broads. Normally, I would be secretly amused that I actually would ever meet and converse with Meryl Streep, and just pass it off as a fantasy. I was surfing the Internet to find more information on Momma Mia! when I came across a notice that Meryl Streep was being interviewed at a community theater in Nyack, NY in one week. Following the interview there would be a reception where you could meet and talk with Meryl Streep. I live in Michigan. I had a teenage daughter in high school. I had work responsibilities that were pressing.



I called my best friend with my plan. We were going to NYC for the weekend to meet Meryl Streep in less than one week. We called it our Lark. In a flurry of activity the arrangements were made and we jumped on a plane for NYC. A very spontaneous act for both of us. We had the time of our lives because nothing was planned. We rented a car and found Nyack, NY, even though we had no idea where it was. We saw Meryl Streep and talked with her briefly after the interview. I gave her a book and a card. The card expressed my thanks for being a role model for the 50+ broads. Thank goodness I wrote the card because when it came to talking to Meryl I was horribly tongue-tied and didn't say much. All of my patients found that to be hilarious as they say I never shut up!

The next morning we got back on a plane and came back home. We had changed in those few days. We were spontaneous. We did something way out of our comfort zones. We met a remarkable and talented woman as well as a remarkable and talented man who was her director in a movie, Jonathan Demme. We also met several interesting people who were with us in the audience and at the reception afterwards. We saw the sights of New York even though we didn't have a plan (or a clue where we were most of the time). It has been many months since then but I am still on a high when I think about it.

We had the time of our lives.....