WILL THE REAL VON TRAPP FAMILY PLEASE STAND UP. Pt. 4

I suppose Charmian and her other cinematic brothers and sisters were a bit like the character in that little volume by the same title. They had been the objects of fame, fortune and notoriety for decades, and had learned to identify at some level with the ‘real’ children of the von Trapp family.

 

“Now that the moment had finally arrived that I would meet the ‘children’ we’d portrayed, it was daunting. I felt as if we were imposters. For more than three decades, the seven of us had been applauded for being von Trapps, and suddenly, we were face to face with

…the real ones.”

As much as Charmian had embraced the part and assumed the role and took the bows and enjoyed the acclaim, she simply had not endured the circumstances, nor paid the price to be someone she was not. There was only one Liesl.

“Suddenly her arms were encircling me, and my arms instantly went around her. The embrace overwhelmed me.”

I think much like Maria modeled ‘real’ for Charmian, and much like the Skin Horse modeled ‘real’ for the Rabbit, we must embrace the joy and sorrow, good and bad, light and darkness, balm and suffering of what it means to be ‘real,’ if we are to have any hope of achieving that lofty status.

“‘Does it hurt?’ asked the Rabbit.

‘Sometimes,’ said the Skin Horse, for he was always truthful. ‘But when you are REAL you don’t mind being hurt.’

‘Does it happen all at once, like being wound up.’ He asked. ‘or bit by bit?’

‘It doesn’t happen all at once,’ said the Skin Horse. 

…‘You become.’”

By William McDonald, PhD. Excerpt from "(Mc)Donald's Daily Diary" Vol. 48. Copyright pending

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