Good Evening TXK
A couple of months ago, I was standing in my mom’s bathroom talking to her while she was fixing her hair in the mirror, and she was just LAUGHING! I’m not talking about giggling—little chuckles here and there—I am saying uncontrollably laughing out loud while telling me about a little joke her boyfriend John made on their date the night before. She was laughing so hard that I was trying to hold back laughter myself even though I could not understand a single word she was saying because that’s how hard she was laughing. I did not say anything; I just stood watching her grin from ear to ear, BEAMING with joy. It was truly contagious.
This was one of those moments that life is all about—uncontrollable laughter, the honeymoon phase of a new relationship, and uncontainable joy found in the first chapter of a new love. I gravitate towards those emotions that make up the human experience. It’s so fascinating to me. We all hope to experience it, with my mom being no different.
But there’s another side of the coin when it comes to that same human experience. My mom has been hurt, manipulated, lied to, scarred, physically, mentally, and emotionally abused by men for years of her life, before and after I was born. I’ve watched and prayed and hoped she could find someone who would see in her what those other men were too blind to see. If anyone in this whole wide world truly deserves THIS man, it’s my mom. If there even is such a thing as happy endings, where can I put in a request that my mom receive one?
My mom and John have only been dating for a handful of months. Sometimes new relationships fizzle out. Even though that’s a possibility, that’s not the point. The point is that I have a mom who was brave enough to allow herself to try love again despite every past mistake and heartbreak telling her she should run the other way. It’s about the example she is setting for my brothers and me. It’s about the message—don’t allow fear to hold you back from love.
We know the Bible tells us that perfect love drives out ALL fear. Human love will never compare to the connection we share with our Creator, but I would personally like to believe this love we experience here on earth is like a tiny little drop on our tongues revealing to us a small fraction of how that perfect love tastes.
John recently drove my mom and me home from Hot Springs with my mom in the passenger seat. I was sitting in the back, and she was absolutely terrified of his driving. It was so funny. I was laughing so hard. I don’t think she was scared just because he was driving fast, though. I feel it’s because she’s used to being behind the wheel. She’s had to be in the driver’s seat for us, (her children) our entire lives, and she’s not used to being in the passenger seat. She told him she was scared, and he said, “I know you’ve done it alone a long, long time, but you’re gonna have to trust me and just hand over the reins a little bit.”
During these last few months of bliss for my mom, John has made her laugh, feel safe, respected her, been honest with her, uplifted her, and walked her slowly and carefully through every step of this big, scary NEW. Loving broken humans is a tough experience the entire way through. There will be bumps in the road. There will be moments of fear for my mom in the passenger seat, but I believe the most courageous thing you can ever do in this life is to be vulnerable enough to share every part of yourself with someone, every crack and crevice, loving fully and wholly loved.
We have gotten so comfortable in a generation where everyone tries to be so hard, putting up walls to keep themselves from getting hurt. I fear these people don’t realize now that hurt could lead them to uncontrollable laughter waiting for them in the end. Be brave. Love fully. Love wholly. Love unabashedly. The risk is worth it.
LOCAL EVENTS
January 17-March 25
TRAHC presents: TAAC’s 21st Annual Regional Celebration of African American Artists Exhibit: Ernest C. Withers’ Collection, “Goodnight, My Love”
TRAHC Gallery, 4th & Main
February 2 & February 7
Create a Ceramic Breakfast Set with Chris Thomas
Texarkana Regional Arts Center, 6-8 pm, $65
February 4
Masterworks III—“Mahler’s First!”
Two-time Grammy nominee and Avery Fisher career grant recipient Jennifer Frautschi, performs live
Perot Theatre, 7 pm
February 8
TRAHC presents “Dino-Light”
Theatre for Young Audiences
Perot Theatre,
9:30 am, 12:30 pm
February 10
Downtown Live
Broad Street Downtown Texarkana, 6-9 pm
February 11
Texarkana Resources Galentines Day Brunch Fundraiser
Regional Arts Center, 10 am-12 pm
Tickets $50, VIP $70
February 15
TRAHC presents: Bill Blagg—The Science of Magic
Perot Theatre,
9:30 am, 12:30 pm
February 16
TRAHC Presents: The Magic of Bill Blagg LIVE
Perot Theatre, 7 pm
February 18
Texarkana Mardi Gras
Broad Street,
Downtown Texarkana, 10 am
February 18
Kids Run the Line TOO
CHRISTUS St. Michael Health & Fitness Center, 4-5 pm
February 19
Run the Line, 7:30 am
February 19
The Skit Guys
First Baptist Texarkana, 6 pm
February 23-26
Silvermoon Children’s Theatre presents “Matilda”
Silvermoon Theater Downtown Texarkana
February 23 & 24, 7 pm
February 25, 10:30 am,
2 pm, 7 pm
February 26, 2 pm
Febraury 23
TRAHC presents: The Year of the Boar and Jackie Robinson
Perot Theatre,
9:30 am, 12:30 pm
February 24
Southwest Arkansas Arts Council & Hempstead Hall presentFairytales on Ice: Beauty & the Beast
Hempstead Hall, 7 pm
February 25
Temple Memorial Pediatric Center’s Dancing with our Stars
Northridge Country Club,
6 pm
LIVE MUSIC
February 10
TRAHC presents Kin Faux with Special Guest Sarah Hobbs, Perot Theatre, 7:30 pm
February 17
Bass, Beats, and Love, Hopkins Icehouse, 8 pm
February 20
Presidents’ Day Concert with Mary Scott Smith, Sullivan Performing Arts Center, 6 pm
Free Admission,
Donations Accepted
