Theater and the grand stage of it all -- before I decided to venture back onto the other side of the stage -- was fairly uncharted territory for more than a quarter-century.
I have some vague recollections of being a teenage theater geek. A few appearances here and there, often to the delight of my mother and the chagrin of my father.
Larry didn't have much use for the dramatic side of things. He was a realist, which I suppose to some degree explains my journalistic sense of things.
Veronica had a better understanding of allowing some dramatic license, so long as it didn't interfere with responsibilities at home and school or impede my burgeoning career as a stringer covering sporting events for the local newspaper or doling out frozen yogurt to hungry customers at my "other" part time job.
In high school dramatic productions, I appeared in Annie Get Your Gun and some silly courtroom drama where I got to lay judgment on my fellow cast members.
There were a few other hit and miss opportunities, but then I decided to cash in any hopes of an acting career for the greener pastures of being a well-paid sports reporter.
Perhaps that's why this particular venture back onto the big stage means so much to me.
Immediately after last year's performance as a co-lead character in Dinner With The Boys, I thought I'd be finished. It was part of a renaissance if you will, a way to satiate the "get comfortable being uncomfortable" hunger I'd felt brewing for some time.
When presented just over a month ago with the opportunity to do "Tuesdays with Morrie", I will readily admit, I was eager to take those steps onto the stage again.
Ironically enough, the play has as much to do with the relationship between mentor and student as it does with the emotional bonds -- shaken and withered -- within a family.
That is not going to be lost on me when the lights come up and I begin the first of five performances this weekend.
"I'm going to make myself cry," I tell interested parties when they inquire about the play and my role in it. "So if I'm gonna get all weepy and emotional, you're crying with me."