Celebrations
13
by Mary Mitchell-Donahue, Fine Art Department Chair, Theatre Director, Parent
I
n my family, the months of May and June have been the season of
seemingly endless celebration. It usually starts with Mother’s Day, then
my daughter Marian’s birthday, Father’s Day often on the same day as
daughter Caitlin’s birthday, followed by Selina’s birthday then my birthday.
This year the festivities have been compounded by Marian’s graduation
from The Catholic University of America, and Selina’s graduation from
Bishop McNamara. As soon as the party detritus is cleared away, I will
need to begin serious planning for my daughter, Caitlin’s, wedding. In
each instance my family and I gather to rejoice in the passing of time and
the monuments to our important achievements. These celebrations are
special, not much for performance of grand rites and rituals, but for the
deeper connections formed
when we share our joy with
each other. Each action
is given meaning as the
outward sign of an even
greater inward change.
My family has quite a few
milestones on the horizon,
and each is a sign special to
the change it represents. My
daughters’ graduations are
representative of four years
of academic achievement
and dedication. They will
don their academic robes
to indicate their new gained
level of education. My
oldest daughter’s wedding
will be both a ceremony to
join two individuals into a
single life as well as the celebration of our growing family. This will all be
in addition to the four birthdays that liven up this time of year. For each
event, we will spend the day as a whole family, rejoicing in the continued
health and happiness of our loved ones. So, there is much to celebrate in
the Donahue household.
But I know that I am not alone in this time of celebration. As I attend
the various events leading up to graduation, I am also gathering with my
Bishop McNamara Family. First, of course, are the students – young men
and women that I have taught in the classroom and directed on and back
stage. Then, there are the parents who have volunteered their time and
talent in the Theatre Program — parents of my daughter’s friends who
have, in turn, become my friends. Amidst the adults are my colleagues,
teachers who have worked diligently to share their knowledge and passion
for their subjects while serving as role models for these students. Although
the focus of the ceremonies is rightly on the graduates, all of us share in
the joy of their accomplishments, and understand our contribution to the
outcome. It is just as much a pleasure to see your child achieve what you
always knew they were capable of, as it is to grasp that diploma in your
hand for the first time and know, without a doubt, that you have earned it.
Photo by Johnny Shryock. The Donahue Family at Graduation from L to R: Marian '09, Mary,
Thomas, Selina '13 and Caitlin.
Celebrations allow each individual’s milestone to be honored with
appropriate rites, ceremonies and parties. Each event needs planning
and preparation, much like the production process for a play. However
the performance will only be as good as the preparation that came before
it. Opening night of a show is the accumulation of months of hard work.
Often the process may be overlooked in favor of the polished performance
given when the curtain goes up in front of an audience, but the joy that
an actor feels on opening night is only earned after going through the
rehearsal process. A student can finally rejoice in his/her character after
they have struggled to memorize all of their lines and blocking. Once the
basic, laborious details are out of the way, then the real characterization can
begin, and the celebration
found within performance
is earned. The technicians
and crew can congratulate
each other on a smooth run
only after they have put in
their time and focus to get
each cue and scene shift
done quickly, quietly, and
correctly.
So, in this season of
Graduation, I hope that
we all will take time to
think about the road that
we have taken to get to
this momentous occasion.
Remember that the hard
work and set-backs we
endured result in an even
greater joy in our accomplishments. Realize that this process is a reflection
of McNamara’s Holy Cross charisma. Now is truly the time to celebrate!
Mary Mitchell-Donahue has been the Theatre Director at Bishop McNamara
since 2007, and has served as the Fine Arts Department Chair. She teaches
Introduction to Theatre, Acting, Great Stages of Drama and Senior Seminar.
She also directs the Fall Musical and Spring Play as Omega period classes.
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