A night to remember

This weekend was a very special weekend for me, a Saturday evening I had the privilege to share with Liam. An evening at the opera with my son, a little boy completely enthralled by the music, the story, the stage, the orchestra. Hansel and Gretel was performed at the Chan Centre, Simone was singing Gretel and the fairy tale is Liam's favourite story. It has been for a long time - long before we knew that the UBC Opera Company would be performing it with our friend Simone as Gretel. It was perfect.

Liam and I got all dressed up for the Opera, Liam wore a new orange shirt and we left for the Chan Centre much too early. We sat in the foyer and Liam drank in the atmosphere, a bit intimidated by all the people coming in, enchanted by the stars on the ceiling, intrigued by the actors milling around and selling raffle tickets. And then it started to snow outside, our first real snow of the season. It was absolutely beautiful. Sitting with Liam on my lap, reading the synopsis to him and the snow coming down outside the windows behind us.

Then the bell rang and it was time to find our seats and for the opera to begin. On stage a giant storybook that would form the backdrop for all the scenes of the opera. We had perfect seats in the second row, Liam on all of our coats so that he could see the stage well. His eyes were glued to the stage, his feet tapped to the rhythm of the music. When in the final scene of the first act the Sandman came and then fourteen Angels gathered around the sleeping children, Liam was completely lost in the story.

Then came the intermission. And to Liam's delight and great astonishment, some angels were in the foyer. Liam was mesmerized. He tugged at my hand and walked over to the angels with me and stared at them. The he told them: "I know all about you, I saw a movie with you." (We had watched a movie of the opera with him the week before.) Then he gave one of the angels a hug. After the hug he was anxious to get back to our seats so that we wouldn't miss any part of the story. So we went back, I gave Liam some chocolate so that he would make it through the second act. I read to him that the second act begins with Hansel and Gretel telling each other of their dreams: that fourteen angels had stood around them to protect them. Liam looks at me with a knowing smile and says: "But it wasn't a dream, it was real."

The man beside us asks Liam if he knows what happens next and Liam explains that the children now come to the candy house, the witch will put Hansel in  a cage and Hansel will poke out a stick or a bone instead of his finger, depending on what they had here.

Then the second act began and Liam was once again engulfed in the story. Absolutely beautiful, both the performance and watching Liam enjoy the performance. I was so proud of my son, my little boy (big boy!) sitting through the entire opera, without fidgeting, without as much as blinking as he entered the magical world of an opera performance. He loved all the effects, the stars on the ceiling over the sleeping children and the morning clouds - nothing escaped him. It is now two days later and he still can't talk about it; he is still processing everything he took in.

After the final scene and the applause we rushed to the lobby (and the bathroom!) to meet our friend Simone who was Gretel. Liam was amazed to see her there and gave her a big hug. Simone later told me that he didn't want to let go again. I think his hug expressed the relief that Gretel had managed to overpower the witch, that Hansel had been freed from his cage and that all the gingerbread children were transformed into children again. His hug expressed his love for Gretel, his love for the story and his love for that evening.

We walked to our car through the snow that was still coming down, definitely more than a dusting at this point. We drove home, very slowly and carefully and Liam closed his eyes as we crept down the hill and he prayed for the fourteen angels to surround us and protect us on our way. It helped, my heart was pounding like crazy and we slid a couple of times, but we made it down safely.

Liam then asked me whether I had ever seen the fourteen angels around him while he's asleep at night...

It is so beautiful to see the world through his eyes, to see the magic in the world around us and to truly enjoy every moment.

I will never forget this night and I hope that this night will be one of Liam's earliest memories.