GASP! This afternoon, John & I uncharacteristically asked a friend - a very good one - who stopped by to come in a visit. We figure it's the first time in about ten years since we last purposely invited someone into the house, but she's a dear enough friend that, for once, we cared less about the potential of too many cats & more about have a nice little gab.
All fears disappeared when she looked with around our bedecked-for-the-holidays living room with delight & declared, "It feels like magic!"
Many laughter-filled moments later, after she left with a cheery wave & her trademark ripple of chortly laughter, found myself thinking about magic. Which got me thinking about Jack Lemmon, who started each scene with, "It's magic time!"
Which got me thinking - pretty good way to kick off every moment of our life.
How many of us partner with magic? How many even realize the astonishing things that can happen when we make welcoming magic a regular part of our lives?
Magic was John Uhler Lemmon III's enthusiastic partner in both his professional & personal life. He was born into a well-off family that loved him, attended top schools, graduated from Harvard in '47, served in the US Navy as an ensign, worked in radio & on Broadway before making his TV debut in 1949. His 1954 movie debut - in a lead role, no less - was opposite Judy Holliday in It Should Happen To You.
It really was magic time - the next year found Jack sharing billing with Ward Bond, William Powell, Henry Fonda & Jimmy Cagney in Mr. Roberts - and nabbing the 1955 Best Supporting Actor Oscar for his Ensign Pulver!
Over the years, Jack Lemmon received nominations for comedies (Some Like It Hot (1959), even more dramas (Days of Wine and Roses (1962), The China Syndrome (1979), Tribute (1980) & Missing (1982), however you categorize The Apartment (1960), and a Best Actor Oscar for Save the Tiger (1973).
In 1985, he was back on Broadway in Long Day's Journey Into Night.
While Jack Lemmon's first marriage ended after just six years, his second lasted from 1962 until his death in 2001.
Through it all, Jack Lemmon never lost his reputation as a decent guy. As Kevin Spacey wrote in his foreward to Chris Lemmon's book about his father, "Jack Lemmon was a credit to his profession because he was a man whose humanity was bigger than his talent. And when you think for a moment about the size and depth of that talent, then you begin to understand how seriously he took his role as a human being.”
Is there any better accolade than being described as a decent person who cares about others? I think not.
My morning ritual begins when I first wake up, thinking about all I have to be grateful for from the previous day, sending loving thoughts to a specific person(s), looking out the window to the back yard & greeting the world with all the awe it deserves, going downstairs to the front room to say my namastes to the four corners of my world, heading out on a walk around the block before coming home to feed the cats, then reading at least ten pages in an inspiring book.
Whew! That's a lot to just start the day, but am extending that extensive ritual a bit more. After my 5th & final namaste (to All That Is), will set a smile on my face & head out to the day with a jaunty, "It's magic time!"
Jack Lemmon - not a guardian angel, but one heckuva role model!
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