The Road Less Traveled

Remember having to memorize poetry in high school?  One of my favorite poems was "The Road Less Traveled" by Robert Frost.  It immediately came to mind as I watch the production of If/Then at the Civic last week.  The female lead has a decision to make as she meets a friend in the park, and very cleverly, the choices she had and what might have occurred had she chosen one path or another, are unveiled.  All of us have had choices to make that have effected our lives profoundly.

Ron had to choose between Tulane and USC when he was ready for college, and he chose USC.  His life would have been entirely different had he gone to Tulane.  I had a choice of social work or teaching after college, and I'm sure my life would have been different had I chosen social work.  I hear all the time about a woman choosing one man over another, and influencing her life in ways she could not even imagine.  When my son Phil went to work at Roy's in Denver rather than staying at the restaurant he had been at, he had no idea that would lead to him finding Deborah, his wife.

We make choices all the time.  I have had many occasions while hiking when I've had two roads to choose from.  Why one chooses one over the other, I don't really know.  And, who knows what might have happened had one chosen the other road?

If/Then starred many stars from the Broadway cast, including Idina Menzel.  She is a spectacular singer, and the production was well worth seeing.  Although I didn't leave the theatre singing any of the many songs in the show, I will not soon forget the story.  When faced with choices, we make what we think is the best choice at the time.  You never know what might have been, had you chosen the other path.