Alexia’s persective

I had been counting down the days to Thanksgiving. I hadn’t seen my siblings or parents in months, and our family would all be together in our new home that I would finally see for the first time. My flight got in very late on Wednesday night/Thursday morning. After a few gate changes and an hour delay in DAL, my boyfriend Andrew and I arrived at PHL right around 1:00am Thanksgiving morning. My dad was there to pick us up and by the time we got home, I was exhausted. Well, I wasn’t too tired to consume dad’s home made pork chop and rice, but right after headed to bed where I promptly fell asleep. I did not want to leave my bed when the sun started peeking through the windows a few hours later, but I thought to myself, “Hey, you know what? It’s Thanksgiving! And I want to spend as much time as possible with my fam during this short vacation.” So, I put on my comfiest outfit and marched down stairs. Well, as it turned out, of the 8 people in the house staying for the holidays, not everyone was awake yet. But man, was I glad that I got down stairs when I did. Not even an hour after I rolled out of bed, Mom made this weird yelping noise and covered her mouth with one hand while holding her iPhone in the other, her eyes wide in disbelief. “Mom?” Julia said, “Are you okay?” She was more than okay – she had just won the lottery. The Hamilton on Broadway lottery, to be exact. For $20, Mom won 2 tickets to go see the Tony award winning musical the Friday after Thanksgiving (i.e. the next day). When we learned she only got 2 tickets, there was a little bit of tension in the room. Mom was obviously going to be the holder of 1 ticket, but who would get to accompany her into the city? It all happened so fast, but when I volunteered to take one for the team, no one really protested. David was still asleep (that worked in my favor). Julia had already seen the show, but was more obsessed with the play than maybe anyone in America. The fact that she didn’t put up a fight was probably one the most selfless things she’s ever done. I can’t even imagine how hard that was for her! It’s probably a good thing we didn’t know we’d be sitting in the second row behind the orchestra, stage center to be exact, until we got there… I think Julia was just a tiny bit jealous about that…

Full of anticipation, Alexia and I arrived at the Richard Rodgers Theatre Friday evening. We were not disappointed. The talent and pageantry was awe inspiring. I loved EVERYTHING about the show. I wish the whole family could have been there. The odds that I won the lottery this weekend was a serendipitous gift from above.

One of the many themes that emerged for me as I watched Hamilton was the David & Goliath parallel. How does a fledgling nation defeat a world super power at the time? It took the courage, savvy, sacrifice and perseverance of everyday and unlikely heroes like Alexander Hamilton. The opening lines of the first number of the play asked the question, ”How does a bastard, orphan, son of a whore and a Scotsman dropped in the middle of a forgotten spot in the Caribbean by providence, impoverished, in squalor, grow up to be a hero and a scholar?” This was the story of a poor, immigrant orphan who worked hard and used some “out of the box” thinking to help the founding fathers develop strategies to defeat the British and establish a a sustainability plan for the nation. David defeats Goliath, not by using “conventional wisdom” but by capitalizing on his unique gifts and talents. With a stone and a slingshot (with grit and sheer determination), the unlikely hero David changed the history of a nation. With grit and sheer determination, Alexander Hamilton, the unlikely hero, changed the history of our nation. While Hamilton got help along the way, his attitude was, “I’m not throwing away my shot!” He didn’t squander opportunities. He didn’t make excuses.