Ernest was a boy full of sadness and woe, and, I think you’ll agree, justifiably so.
His mother had died, and just as he feared, his father then, literally, just disappeared.
Leaving him, at thirteen, all alone, feeling abandoned and on his own.
But he soon met a girl, the love of his life, and they lived for awhile as man and wife.
And then she left him and returned to a previous lover that she had once spurned.
Leaving behind their baby named Lily who loved Ernest so much that she made him quite silly, buying her so many dolls willy-nilly.
And then disaster struck Ernest—another bad sign, as leukemia killed Lily when she was just nine.
Alone and bereft, he had nobody left except a roomful of dolls, that suited him fine.
He talked to the dolls, revealing his thoughts, and listened intently as they called the shots.
And he sometimes grew angry and tossed them about and continued his talk in a great blasting shout.
But then he realized, by confronting his grief, that the dolls had given him much-needed relief.
And as he grew calmer he suddenly found that the dolls had helped him without making a sound.
And so he realized that by expressing his feelings the dolls and he were on the way to their healings.
So later he wrote and performed in a play that told his story in a wonderful way.
And as he wrote it, without any warning, he understood he’d experienced a really “Good Mourning”.
The playwright is Hosea Chanchez and the director is Danielle Mone’ Truitt.
And if you think you’d like the play, don’t hesitate, GO TO IT!
“Good Mourning” will continue at The Hudson Mainstage Theater, 6539 Santa Monica Blvd. in Los Angeles, Saturdays at 3 p.m. and Sundays at 8 p.m. through September 8.
Cynthia Citron has lived and worked on every continent except Antarctica as a journalist, award-winning magazine editor, public relations director, and screenwriter. She can be reached at ccitron66@gmail.com