Word of the Day: Behalf

In the days prior to the ceremony he had coached himself how not to cry.

Watching broadcasts of the Academy Awards was always an emotional experience for him, even though over the course of his own life he’d never once had to deal with the kind of emotional polarity he imagined an award recipient must bounce between.

He figured  it was a very cathartic process, that in the moments just after hearing one’s name called, all the creative turmoil, the childhood wonderment coming to fruition, the friends, the enemies, the good times, the bad, all these things would be flooding into an Oscar recipient’s consciousness, and that triumphant walk from their seat to the podium was a chance to relive the culmination of the seconds, weeks, and years that led to this moment of unspeakable glory.

And then, with trophy in hand, gazing out at the hundreds upon hundreds of talented, famous, and beautiful attendees, knowing that around the world millions more had tuned in to witness this day, the day when you were universally honored and acknowledged for your work, for what you had done better than all the others nominated or even those mired in the trenches of the unknown, at that specific moment, the rush, especially for a first-timer, could only result in tears.

So, on the day they dedicated a new garden in memory of his father’s service, when he stood before dozens of members at Wayside Presbyterian, most of whom he considered part of his own family, and all of them grateful for the years of ministry his father had given the church, he knew that at any moment he’d start to well up.

But he didn’t.  He took just a second to reflect on everything his father meant to him and to all the people there, he smiled back at everyone, led them in a short prayer, just as his father would have, and ended by simply saying, “thank you.”

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