Kids Journal - 07/27/02

Before I started this blog, I would send myself emails about funny or important moments in the kids lives. Here's one from July 2002...

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July 27, 2002

Today was a cool day... a day which, as a father, I never anticipated. Today, my daughter, Dorothea, and I went over her lines in the script. I got a degree in acting (add appropriate "you're an idiot" insult here) and I performed for quite a few years, but I never thought any of my kids would participate in the field. And when I wrote the first draft of The Box the child character was named Lil' Jimmy. But when I realized that the only child actor I could count on and be relatively certain she'd be available when I needed was my own daughter, well, the character quickly became Lil'Jenny.

So we sat on our family room floor and I went through each of her scenes with her, going over her lines, explaining her specific choices, etc. But, she wanted to understand the big picture... she wanted to understand why Dan was sacrificing himself for his family. I kept telling her it was a long story, because it'd mean I'd have to verbally go over the entire script. She didn't care. She was full of youthful exhuberance, so I went through it.

So, I go through the whole story, basically scene by scene, but it felt like a camp fire story. I'm leaning forwarding, acting everything out, she's leaning forward, listening intently. And the cool part was that she was totally into it, cringing when The Box got moved from one location to the other, etc. It was pretty neat, actually. I hope the audience responds with as much interest as she did when I told her the entire story.

So, I continue on and when I get to Plot Point II, my daughter does the sweetest thing... I get to the point where Lil' Jenny inadvertently lets Anderson know where The Box is located and my daughter quickly leans back, gasps and grabs her chest as if the wind had been knocked out of her. Tears start to form in her eyes and I ask, "what's wrong?" She said "It's all my fault that Dan dies!" She was so into the story that she felt personally responsible for her character doing an action that utlimately leads to Dan's death. It was so sweet.

She then started laughing at herself for getting so emotional, yet still crying at how her character's action impacted Dan. It lasted until we got through the rest of the story.

It was so sweet because, not only did she understand the story, but she truly cared about the characters. It was a very special, nice little moment between a writer Dad and his interested daughter... one I'll never forget.