Times Past and Present

I got a phone call out of the blue from someone in Marion who is still connected to the Civic Theatre there, telling me he was again directing a Tennessee Williams play, “A Period of Adjustment” after 42 years passage of time.  I was in the original production, having one of the 3 leads.  George found my phone number after finding someone who knew my sister, Jane, and eventually I got a call from him, giving me the news above and inviting me to attend the current production. 

I was interested because I wanted to visit my sister and husband, who I hadn’t seen since our mother’s death, and to take a look at Marion and some of the places I used to live which totaled 6 different places.   In addition, of course, to bask in the past glory of my acting days and to visit with the other two leading actors in the original play. 

A group photo was taken of the past and present casts.



Marion Civic Theatre has a permanent home now, in the decaying town, built around the county court house, as so many Indiana towns first were established.  It is called the James Dean Theatre due to the fact that James Dean was born in Marion and is buried about 20 miles away.  Given the age of my readers here, it is with relief that I don’t have to educate anyone about who James Dean was.

I visited the first home I bought in Marion and I found it still looked really nice. When it was sold after my divorce, the front yard on 1/3 of an acre had no trees, a gravel drive way, and an unfinished patio.  I found so many trees on the lawn that the house was not visible to the road and I drove right past it.

To my dismay, the house the family lived in before we all left Marion is boarded up, as is the home next to it, both scheduled for removal.  The houses across the street are already gone.  I did note that the front door was still painted a bright red (my doing).  My sister says the neighborhood became unsafe and no one wanted to live there anymore.

I visited my deceased wife’s grave and took a few moments to reflect on my life with her and the mostly good times we shared together.  I loved her very much and her loss was devastating.  However, her death was the impetus for me to leave Marion which benefitted everyone in the family.  I still ponder the irony of this. 

Gone are the two best restaurants in town, Irma’s and Emily’s and the best fare is now found at Appleby’s where flat screen TV’s adorn the wall providing distracting noise and unless you find a booth, you sit on stools.  Jane and Bill travel to Fort Wayne to eat out a distance of 50 plus miles.  This fact reminded me of how I used to travel to Fort Wayne, Muncie, Kokomo, Huntington, Indianapolis without giving it much thought, putting about 15,000 miles a year on my car. 

How fortunate I am to live just off the edge of Chicago, two blocks from a lake beach, where I can take the el to Wrigley Field or Sox’s Park dine at the finest restaurants, etc. etc.

Judith and I leave in 6 days to attend Kristi and David’s wedding on top of a mountain vista near Boulder, CO.  As some of you may know, his name is David HeArd, and Kristi gave him the nickname of SV, which stands for superfluous vowel.  It is unknown at this time whether she will take the SV or not for her married name. 

The entire family will be there and it is with great anticipation that I look forward to this joyous event.