After a beautiful rehearsal process and just three previews, COVIDstuff forced Eighty-Sixed to shut down for ten days. It was all too short notice for my family to change travel plans, so they flew to San Diego anyway. As a theater writer, my work is often...hypothetical? People in my life know I do it, but they’re rarely able to see it tangibly. So the opportunity to share that vital part of myself being suddenly snatched away was pretty crushing. My initial impulse was to tell everyone to stay home—there was no show to see, no opening night to celebrate. But my father did some excellent parenting and said, “We’re coming out to celebrate THE JOURNEY with you; the journey that got you here, the journey that brought you and Aaron and Sam and your whole cast together over the past years and months. That journey is really the most important thing, much more important than an actual performance which is one of many fleeting moments. And we’ll be there to celebrate your journey with you as your family, your friends, and your very biggest supporters ever.” And I felt that. Even though my mental and emotional state was a MESS, having loved ones there was genuinely nourishing. Tonight, we welcome audiences back to our show, and my fam’s loving energy is helping me savor this weird, special, and defining moment in my work and life.