It was 2006 and I’d just heard about this new service/theater thing for teens…Playing for Others. Morgan, my oldest daughter, was 14 and had been involved in theater at the Children’s Theater of Charlotte where she’d made some good friends and met this crazy, inspiring, passionate young woman, Jen Band.
My husband and I are all about our kids giving back for all they’ve been given, about using what we’re passionate about to change our world, so we decided to give PFO a go. Somebody should have warned me to buckle my seatbelt.
That first year was life changing in a myriad of ways. Teens learning acceptance and inclusion of all people, discovering how to use passion and talent to benefit others, choosing to give themselves away, even for the unglamorous jobs, figuring out that it’s not just about you.
Initially I was just supportive mom and chauffeur, but as I met the volunteers, the “staff”, the teens, the parents, I was hooked. I wanted to be a part of the force that is PFO. So I looked for ways to support Morgan’s involvement and use my own talents to promote the PFO cause. Part of that at first was just showing up and doing whatever needed to be done. Last year, I was volunteered with the Arts Festival Weekend and my younger daughter, Molly, also 14 at the time helped me out with the jobs I was doing. Not being a ‘theater kid,’ Molly had watched PFO from a distance. But as PFO grew to be an arts movement, in a broader sense, she had a place to plug in.
So this year, Molly joined PFO…and I watch with excitement as the light bulb goes off and she experiences the beauty of PFO, making new friends, forming a community of teens; strong, loving and powerfully talented who will change the world in ways we are yet to see. Equally exciting are the ways that PFO changes the teens involved. In the 4 years that Morgan has been a part of PFO, I’ve watched her become more self-assured and articulate, able to approach, with poise, leaders in the greater Charlotte area to plead her case for change. Her confidence in herself, discovering who she is in this world today, is a beautiful by-product of being involved with PFO. It is a gift and I love watching it happen.
In closing here are the words of one of my favorite artists, Bono, from U2’s latest album, No Line on the Horizon:
‘Every generation gets a chance to change the world
Pity the nation that won’t listen to your boys and girls
Cause the sweetest melody is the one we haven’t heard yet’
They are singing…we just need to listen and be inspired.
–Tracy Grubbs
