Scott Eichinger, Storyteller

SCOTT EICHINGER, Manager of Individual Donor Relations, Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center

One night, late in the summer of 1995, I took my grandmother Audrey to see a local theatre company’s production of the musical, The Secret Garden. I thought it would be a great treat for her. She enjoyed the movie version of the classic story and she had never seen a musical on stage. As we sat in the theatre and the lights went down, she took my hand and held it through the entire performance.

…I found myself watching her take in the performance. She was transfixed! There was magic in her eyes.

Several times that evening, I found myself watching her take in the performance. She was transfixed! There was magic in her eyes. The play had taken her away to another time and another place.

Within a year of that performance, my grandmother was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease. I didn’t know it then, but that was one of the last times I truly had with her. And now when I’m at a performance and the lights dim, I’m taken back to another time and place and remember her taking my hand. I cherish that moment with her memory.