I opened my email on Thanksgiving morning and could not believe what I saw. “You won the HAMILTON lottery” was the subject of the email. I gasped in disbelief. I was in mild shock. For 18 months since moving to Pennsylvania I have been faithfully entering the lottery for Hamilton tickets. But every time I would get the notice, “Try again. Sorry, you did not win this lottery.” There was a big red X. Very discouraging. I had started to wonder if it was silly to keep trying. The odds were against me it seemed. But the day before Thanksgiving, I entered one more time. If I won, I would get the chance to buy 2 tickets to Hamilton for $10 each for the show on Friday after Thanksgiving.

My Hamilton quest started about 4 years ago while my youngest daughter, Julia, was still in High School. Julia and her theatre friends were obsessed with this new hit play. They bought the album on iTunes and knew all the songs. Their enthusiasm was contagious. I wanted to see Hamilton. Julia and I would occasionally check online for tickets, but the prices were always way above our budget. One night, Julia was up doing homework and I had gone to bed. She texted my phone (yes, teenagers do that even if they are in the next room). The text said, “can you please come here, need you ASAP.” I figured she was having a teenage crisis so like a good mom I reluctantly dragged myself out of bed and made my way down the hall to her room, rehearsing in my head the “how to calm your teenager down when she is overwhelmed with school work” speech. (Julia played varsity volleyball, was actively involved in theatre and numerous other clubs, and was in the International Baccalaureate program at Princess Anne High School…she had a full plate). I got to her room and she was not having a crisis, like I thought, but was bursting with excitement. “Mom, Nick just told me that tickets for Hamilton opened up on this website and I logged on and we can get 2 tickets for $129 each but I need your credit card right now”.  I was thinking, “What?! You dragged me out of bed for what??”. She said, “My laptop isn’t charged and I didn’t want to unplug it to come to you because we might lose these tickets...” As the sleep fog cleared from my brain, what she was saying started to register. Hamilton. 2 tickets. $129. We are going to Hamilton! I raced back to my room, grabbed my credit card, rushed back to Julia’s room, and just like that we had 2 tickets to Hamilton. She may have mentioned it, but it wasn’t until the next day that I realized that the tickets were for a date almost a year away. Oh well. We can wait. We are going to see Hamilton.

A few months later, Julia and I were having a casual conversation. Her good friend Nicole was celebrating her birthday. Nicole and Julia went to different high schools but had been playing on the same travel volleyball team for a few years. They were also both active in their high school theatre programs and were equally obsessed with Hamilton. Julia said, “I wish we could have gotten an extra ticket to Hamilton for Nicole.” That was a defining moment. A voice inside my head said, “You should give your ticket to Nicole.” I didn’t hesitate. It just felt like the right thing to do. Nicole and Julia were now seniors in high school. Soon they would be heading off to college. I knew this would be very special and memorable. I wanted them to have that forever memory. So I asked Julia if she had a birthday present for Nicole. She hadn’t gotten one yet. So I offered.
“Mom, are you sure”.
“Yes. I am sure.”

Fast forward to 18 months ago. We moved to the Philadelphia area, and I was now just a couple hours away from New York and, more importantly, Broadway.
“Mom, you should download the Hamilton app and see if you can get tickets.”
“Ok Julia, why not.”
So I downloaded the app and entered the lottery every chance I got.

Fast forward to Thanksgiving morning. I opened my email, and could not believe it. I was finally going to see Hamilton. Now the only question remaining was who to take with me.

Sometimes when we give a sacrificial gift, we find that we gain more than the cost. We become difference makers when we seize opportunities to be a blessing to someone else. We become that person’s hero. We may even discover our hero within.