QUEEN OF EXTRANEOUS INFORMTION

QUEEN OF EXTRANEOUS INFORMTION
Ann in KISMET, Tulane Summer Lyric Theatre, 1982

Thursday, March 31, 2011

Why I'm A Queen. . .

   My birth was long anticipated, even before my parents met.  My mother was the youngest of seven children; my father was an only child.  None of my mother's sisters nor her brother married and, therefore, none produced longed-for grandchildren before my mother and father cooperated.  Then, to add to one of the greatest anticipated births in history, World War II was raging, and both families gave collective sighs of relief that there might be an heir in a worst case scenario!
   My father survived the South Pacific, my mother survived the birth of her firstborn, and although I wasn't the male child they had anticipated, they kept me. I could do no wrong as far as my maternal grandmother and aunts were concerned.  My father's family didn't fawn as much, especially after the birth of my two brothers 14 months and 4 years after my birth.  Oh, well. . . I DID have two menials to do my bidding until they learned to talk and say, "No" and until they grew big enough to beat me up if I got too bossy.
   However, it has taken a lifetime to overcome those first months of being THE SPECIAL ONE.  In later years I found out that my brothers had the same feelings.  In fact, Mother used to say that she didn't know what she did but somehow she ended up with "three only children."
   I have always been bossy. (Is it the oldest child birth order?)  Add to my birth placement the fact that I became a high school teacher and university professor.  Then, add my years of being a musical theatre director, and you've got a boss with a capital B.  Now, we've all got to admit that Queen sounds better than Boss, so over the years I have earned the name of "Queen" to my face, but perhaps behind my back I have earned being called bossy or other names that start with a "B."