Old Friends Are "the Best"

Finally caught up with Ms. Dawn Petersen Snyder by phone over the weekend, after trying to reach her several times in vain.  This past summer she, Tosha, and I had dinner at the Crab Shack on Tybee -- and began the process of re-acquaintanceship. I had forgotten (and Tosha said the same thing to me in a later private conversation) what a wonderful, talented, and sensitive person Dawn was.  I guess there was a reason She loved her so much.

Dawn, during our summer three-way conversation, talked about the divorce from Tim, how she felt about it, how hurt she was, and how she was trying to recover -- but found life pretty difficult. She briefly mentioned doing "stand up comedy" for the first time (which was intriguing since Dawn is so much like Amy Poehler as a performer). She started to talk about her Mom (after her husband, Dawn's step-Dad died recently) and alcohol; trying to do Real Estate sales in Atlanta with Town and Country Real Estate, and a few other details.  We left each other (all three of us) with big hugs, and Dawn making me promise to "keep in touch this time."  I didn't realize that I had done that, but it is probably true.

So this past Fall I asked Tosha to send me Dawn's phone number (which I didn't have), then her address (ditto), and her email. And this past Saturday I reached Dawn -- or rather she called me back; from Orlando, FL where she was coaching kids from Atlanta in a National Theatre Audition competition for high school students.  I told Dawn (over a bad connection) that I realized I get "into" Atlanta 6-8 times a year with my "weekend job" -- mostly Downtown (Emory, CDC, The Carter Center..., and Georgia Tech University). She lives in the ''burbs to the Northeast of Atlanta, but said "she would love to have me see her stand-up routines." I agreed; so next time in Atlanta, I will give her a call or a text and see if she is "performing somewhere" in that area. Dawn was one of the most talented improv and stand-up people ever had in any of my classes anywhere. It will be wonderful to see how she has progressed. Can't wait!