1) This week it’s Reunions back at ye Instytytte. Four years ago I went through it the last time. The weeks leading up to it were often more stressful than the events themselves. Despite some wonderful memories and experiences, I’m grateful to be focused on other things in the spring.
1a) I may celebrate with a drink later this week with a former colleague.
2) You know my love of Golden Age Hollywood; to paraphrase the snippy exercise instructor in The Women, “How can you avoid it?” At some point in the final week, I would email the team this immortal clip from 42nd Street of Warner Baxter’s pep talk to Ruby Keeler as the curtain goes up on Pretty Lady. (See it at the bottom of this entry.) It says so much about the spirit one needs to bring to Reunions as a staffer, and as a team member.
2a) Last week I realized that, after four years, there’s only one person left on the team(s) I used to work with directly. Everyone else has moved on to other things, either within or without ye Instytytte. So this morning, for the last time, I sent that message again; all good things must come to an end, including this tradition.
2b) And to my surprise, that colleague has already responded with a personal message! With so much going on! I was touched.
3) What Warner Baxter says is this: “Sawyer, you listen to me, and you listen hard. Two hundred people, 200 jobs, $200,000, five weeks of grind and blood and sweat depend upon you. It’s the lives of all these people who’ve worked with you. You’ve got to go on and you’ve got to give and give and give. They’ve got to like you, got to! Do you understand? You can’t fall down, you can’t! Because your future’s in it, my future, and everything all of us have is staked on you. All right now, I’m through. But you keep your feet on the ground, and your head on those shoulders of yours and go out, and Sawyer — you’re going out there a youngster, but you’ve GOT to come back a STAR!”