TheBanyanTree: The Nutcracker

[Robin Tennant-Wood]

I read once that tragedy takes place against very ordinary backgrounds - it
reminds me of the closing lines of the Robert Frost poem, "Out, Out":
"No more to build on there. And they, since they
Were not the one dead, turned to their affairs."

R

On 29 December 2016 at 09:25, Theta Brentnall <tybrent at gmail.com> wrote:

> So sad.  Christmas will always have a tinge of sorrow for his family now.
> Blessings on them all.
>
> Theta
>
>
> On 12/26/2016 5:47 PM, Monique wrote:
>
>> Today a man died in a stall of the men's room at The Keller Auditorium,
>> steps from a lobby teeming with people. The man had packages, or presents,
>> with him, and it was half an hour until the performance. No one knew when
>> he died, it wasn't a noticeable death, he didn't go out screaming, at least
>> not so's he'd be heard. When security broke into the stall the man was
>> grey, and he had no pulse. His pants were down, making it an undignified
>> death, but does that matter at a time like that?
>>
>> He was grandfather age, which could be anywhere from 35 to 105, and
>> chances are good he wasn't at the ballet alone.
>>
>> I love The Nutcracker, partly for the holiday atmosphere, partly because
>> the little kids are dressed up in their fanciest tulle (girls, mostly),
>> partly because I'm a huge Tchaikovsky fan, and partly to see people do
>> things that are amazing.
>>
>> The man who died would have been with others, maybe his wife, his
>> children, his grandchildren. Maybe his granddaughter was the little girl in
>> the pink fluffy dress. She needed a couple of feet on both sides of her in
>> order to get through the crowd. Maybe he was with the three little girls
>> wearing matching black and red dresses, their mother in red. Maybe, like a
>> radio celebrity we talked to, he was there with just one little girl, a
>> grandfather/granddaughter outing.
>>
>> It is the day after Christmas, and someone's grandfather died in a
>> bathroom stall at The Keller Auditorium, a man who moments earlier had been
>> healthy enough to see a performance of The Nutcracker, healthy enough to go
>> the men's room alone. Did he have a premonition? Did he know? Probably not.
>> If I were going to die in a public restroom I would not be pulling my pants
>> down first. I'd probably be screaming for someone to stop it.
>>
>> I did not see him, having little reason to go to the men's room, but Mr C
>> did. He was there when security came in, when they found him, he saw the
>> ashen pallor and watched them check for a pulse that did not exist.
>>
>> And then he left the men's room when security cleared the room, and we
>> went in to see The Nutcracker, while one family, at least, learned they'd
>> lost a loved one unexpectedly.
>>
>> Life is such a crap shoot.
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> Monique
>>
>> Sent from my tiny miniature iPad, which is amusing and is not used for
>> work, other than answering important emails.
>>
>
>


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