By Marge Eiseman
"I'm so blessed!", I whispered to the stranger sitting next to me in the theater. We were watching a new play, "Distracted" by Lisa Loomer at the Ashland Shakespeare Festival -- and it was an extraordinary experience. The stage was set as a square with seating on all four sides. The set featured groups of four flat-panel screens that were suspended from the ceiling, facing each bank of seats, all flashing different images that enhanced the dialogue (or made for some visual comedy). The furniture -- even the long kitchen counter and appliances -- were all mounted on casters and split in the middle, so the scene changes happened by characters quickly whisking things off to the corners and down the ramps.

Oh, and the play itself was about attention disorders, and the quest for diagnosis and treatment and advice. Makes sense, doesn't it? Watching the play was overwhelming, and about 2/3 of the way through, I was thinking, "I'm so glad I don't have a kid with ADD." And then I thought, "Whoa! I have a dead child, and one who had cancer, and another who has an implanted defibrillator. How can I feel so deeply blessed?"

After the show, I had made a date to walk with a friend of my sister's. We'd never met before, but I agreed to meet him and his dog near the top of Park St. in Ashland. The incline was so steep that I felt like a hood ornament standing alongside my car, and once we started walking (further up the slope!), I had to make the choice of walk or talk.

It happens that this guy has a degenerative disease, but he's still walking the dog and doing Class IV river rapids, because that's what he loves to do. I told him about that deep feeling of being blessed, and asked, "Where does it come from?" Rationally, we should or could feel cursed. Come on, we've been through a lot -- all of us have.

And as we talked, and we both shared our stories, I got it. People generally have one of two scripts: either "Life in Unfair" and everything that happens eventually proves that point or "Life is Interesting" and everything is material for a good story.

That reminds me...

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