7 Things You May Not Know About Me

It's a learning process. I got "tagged" by a meme, a new term to my ancient ears. It came from #1 son over at BillyBlog after he was tagged and said that he was "morally blogbligated (new word) to play along." After exchanging several e-mails (many laced with expletives) with him, I decided to try to also play along. However, while I could list almost any 7 things that almost everybody does not know about me, it is hard to find many that either no one knows or that I am willing to share publicly. I can think of several things that are, and have been, left unmentioned for many years. They won't be posted here and now either. There are just some things in each of our lives that are best left unmentioned. So – here I go (knowing that 1 or 2 folks may know about some of these things):

1. The moment when I realized how fragile our existence is. I was in my early 20s and got very drunk one night. I was angry about something as I was driving home at a very excessive speed. Driving on a residential street, I blew through at stop sign at an intersection with a major thoroughfare and never saw the other car until we missed hitting each other by inches. I must say that I realized how lucky I had been and have never driven drunk since then.

2. I co-chaired my high school senior prom. My date was someone I had an enormous crush on. She was absolutely stunning and I was hoping the relationship would continue to develop. As it happened, having to deal with many of the details of the event, I didn't pay as much attention to her as I should have. As the event ended, I remember telling her about 2 post-prom parties to which we were invited. She begged off, saying she was not feeling well and asking me to take her straight home. Something didn't seem right to me so after dropping her off, I drove slowly around the block. As I approached her house from the opposite direction, there she was leaving with some other guy who had been at the prom with a classmate of mine. This was one of the more humiliating experiences of my life.

3. My first crush on a girl was when I was 10 years old. Her initials PH. I never told anyone; they would have kidded me unmercifully.

4. I remember clearly my first digital rectal examination. (For the unknowing, a "digit" in this sense is a finger.) The doctor was and still is a friend of mine. When he withdrew his somewhat pudgy finger and peeled me off the ceiling, he asked me if we were still friends. In one of those rare moments of clarity, no matter how discomforting it was, I blurted out, "More than ever Larry!" [As I said, we're still friends although I have no idea if he remembers my remark.]

5. Whenever I am asked why I became an actor, my usual response is, "Some people play golf, some go fishing. I get up on stage." But that's not a reason. When I came off the stage after my first performance at the age of 56, I was hooked. It was the most unbelievable high I ever felt. And it served as an incredible release from the stress of my job where I faced ongoing deadlines that could not be missed. Why do I continue to act? It's simple: I am having an incredible amount of fun!

6. When I was 21, I decided to move out of my parents' house and into an apartment adjacent to the Wayne State University campus with 2 friends. My father was not happy and blared out at me in his most blustery voice, "You're just moving because you want a place to take girls to?" In the best response I ever made to him, I quickly answered, "I hadn't thought about that Dad, but what a great idea! Thanks!" He blustered a bit more before breaking into loud laughter.

7. My family and some friends know, but most people do knot realize that I wear hearing aids. I include that here because I needed a 7^th item and because a couple of months ago a friend noticed them and asked how long I had been wearing them. He seemed surprised when I told him 2 years. However, I never wear them on stage; something I learned from my older sister who is still acting in community theatre in the Detroit area who found that when she got on stage wearing her hearing aids, she had difficulty projecting her voice because she sounded so loud to herself. And she was right. When I first got the devices, I asked the audiologist whether he thought I would have difficulty hearing cues if I did not use them when performing. He answered no and explained that since I would be listening for cues, my mind would fill in the blanks my ears missed. He's right. AND. . .maybe this should be 7b. – When performing without my glasses, I see absolutely clearly. I have no explanation. Life is blurry without my trifocal lenses except when I am on stage. Hmm. . .maybe if I pretended that I was always acting, I wouldn't need them anymore.

Well, that's my seven, dedicated to BillyBlog who foisted this exercise on me. I must admit that it did help me dredge up some long forgotten memories. Now, I have to decide if I am going to meme anyone else.