Pick a Saint.

So, last night I had the chance to go see one of my favorite friends perform her BUTT off in a little show called Nunsense! She was pretty much the coolest nun you ever saw in your life, complete with green converse and argyle socks, which she frequently flashed the audience. Also, there were points that she could've been channeling her youngest, and currently craziest child, Amy, who tends to grab my face tenderly and play with my hair before pulling it suddenly so she can whisper in my ear, "Hey. You a handi." Hahahaha. I couldn't love her more.

Now, I know I've talked about Andra frequently, and quite honestly, may never stop doing so. So. Buckle up and get used to it! Andra was my teacher for three years of high school, but more importantly, she was genuinely, and is truly, my friend. I can't even tell you what a blast it was to watch her be physically onstage, since I've watched countless versions of all the goodness she is flit across the stage through her influence as a director, teacher, and friend to the students at Davis High School. She is vividly present in whatever art we make or give.

Still. I cannot in words describe to you the absolute joy I felt seeing her actually on stage, performing, her eyes alive, her legs flailing hysterically, the swear words she can use better and less offensively than anyone I've ever met falling from her habit. She was basically shooting laser beams of laughter with every rock-on sign she made to the audience. Oh man. I was smiling so hard the entire time, that I think this is probably the first time in my life I can truthfully say that my face hurts from smiling. Yeah, like I was THAT happy. And people were probably like, who is that slap-happy fool in the fourth row who's not even wearing a real bra and is practically levitating out of her freaking seat she's so jolly? And I'm like, Hi... That's me. :)

Seriously, it was amazing. Also, even though it was freaking hilarious and the Reverend Mother got so high at one point that I felt like I was back in junior high gym class, trying to watch people run laps under the influence. (Hahahaha. No. That really was a funny memory.) So. Anyway, even though it was ridiculously hilarious, I'll be honest, there were points I had tears in my eyes - like when Andra sang about being a star, and she kicked freaking A. (This really deserves a swear because it was so freaking hardcore, but. My mom reads my blog. Hiii, mom.) And then when she sang about why she became a nun, and the influence a nun had on her at school, I was in tears again. And I was not the only one on my little row of friends, who were also former students. It's because we were all thinking about her. And how she influenced us into the people we are and are going to be.

Simply put, I love this woman, and watching her in this show was such a gift. She was, incredible. Also, she looks great in a habit, sounds great with a jersey accent, and yes, she looks better in a french braid and sweat-drenched after a show than you ever. Also, she has the world's sickest RV, which her adorable family has named Camptimus Prime - yeah. YEAH!!! :) And they used it as the dressing room, because apparently the actual ones behind the amphitheater were BLOODY hot. (I wouldn't know if it was a warm evening - this from a girl who's hands literally DRIP hot, steamy sweat while the rest of my body has constant goosebumps and runs a temp always at least 2 degrees below normal. Yes. I have still found boys who will hold my hand. One who even likes it. Don't ask? Because I don't understand it either. Just... in the words of my Grandma, "For every Jack, there's a Jill." So yeah, for all you sweaty freaks out there... THERE'S HOPE.)

Back to Andra, though, and this show! There were five women in the cast, but the power and enormity of their work and their play onstage made it seem so much more than that. I can't say enough about the joy seeing this play last night brought me. Seriously. A week before I move, grumpy and heavy as I expected to be, I felt light as air, and completely filled with love. Carefree. Just another gift this woman has given me, I suppose.

In the final number, they said something about how you can just pick a saint and declare, I'm holier than thou! Besides having a SLAMMIN' beat, it made me think. I looked down at my crumpled program, where I'd read Sister Robert Anne's bio earlier, and read that Andra had listed To Kill A Mockingbird among one of her favorite works she'd done, and that she was dedicating her performance to all students past and present. Of course that got me teared up, too, so there I am, wreaking of bug spray, since the critters were crawling once the sun went down, convulsing those around me by the second act, and grinning from ear to ear with glistening eyes. PEOPLE AROUND ME, SIR WITH THE SKINNY STACHE A SEAT OVER - YOU ARE FINE WITH IT.

And I just looked at my friend up on stage, one of my very best friends - something Anne Shirley would call a kindred spirit, and I thought, you know, she's not quite a saint (it's hard when you're not Catholic or getting burned for something awesome), but she's pretty dang close. And if I can grow up and be even half the person she is, touch even half the lives, share my art and my joy and my... me-ness even half as effectively?


Well, then I'll consider myself pretty lucky to have picked her, as my friend and a role model.