Memories of Hope Murphy
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My first theatre experience was at my Grandmommy Murphy's house on Turtle Creek Blvd in Dallas, Texas. She had a great house! It was two-story, on a weird pointy lot, across the street from a park.
Going to my Grandmommy's house was never an ordinary experience. She had an attic full of my Mom's and Aunt Pat's party dresses from the 1930's & 40's. My first costuming experience was with my three sisters. We'd dress up, walk around the block to an adoring audience, run back upstairs, make a costume change, and walk around the block again. Over and over we played.
She had a chest of drawers at the top of the stairs and on each drawer was the name of a grandchild, in gold script. Real gold I am certain. And waiting in each drawer was always a treat; a pack of Juicy Fruit gum or a new box of crayons. So each time we got to her house, we would make a beeline for the stairs to find out what was waiting for us. Grandmommy served everything in champagne glasses; orange juice, 7up, Coke. I didn't inherit very much from my Grandmother because we used it all. I do have some lovely crystal fruit plates! She served everything with whipped cream; Post Toasties, cereal, fruit. And it was the real thing, with lots of sugar and vanilla.
Grandmommy Murphy had a front door that locked but she never seemed to have a key. At that time everyone slept with the windows open so when we arrived to a locked door, my sisters and I would climb in one of the windows and run to open the front door from the inside. At which point, my Grandmommy Murphy would exclaim how brilliant we were! We often wondered what she did when we weren't there.
As children staying with my grandmother meant we may get to travel in a taxi. I thought at one time this was for the sheer experience of it. Later in life my Mom shared with me that my Grandmommy Murphy was a terrible driver, so if we were going somewhere that required driving, they gave her taxi money. She hung our Christmas presents on the tree; coupon books to Furr's Cafeteria, movie passes, packs of gum. Going to her house was an adventure!
Hope Murphy, my grandmother, and her 3 sisters all had university degrees. This was quite extraordinary for women of their generation. Grandmommy's degree included professional story telling. She knew hundreds of stories. But not stories we had ever heard before. They were stories like The Dog with the Green Tail or Little Mouse Pie. Have you ever heard of them? Certainly not. They belonged to my grandmother! However, Grandmommy never just told us a story. We would do things like take all the mattresses off of all the beds downstairs and make one room full of mattresses. My parents were not there. Then, we would make a tent with all the sheets, climb inside the tent with my Grandmommy Murphy holding those little flash lights like you get at Motts Dime Store. And that's where she would tell us the story of The Dog with the Green Tail or Little Mouse Pie.
By the time she opened her mouth I was so hungry to hear what she said I soaked it all up. Today I can tell you the story of the The Dog with the Green Tail complete with my Grandmother's hand motions and her perfect inflections.
So if you remember anything about this story, and why it is important to Kids Who Care, please remember that my Grandmommy Murphy never forgot what it was like to be a child. And now every time a child arrives at our theatre doors, we always think of her and hope the children who arrive at our doors feel like I did when I arrived at hers. How she looked at me when I arrived, how she adored me. That's my grandest hope for the children and adults who come to Kids Who Care. And when I am sitting on the floor telling a story, I always remember my Grandmommy Hope, and how she was filled with child wonder.
To honor Grandmommy, Hope Murphy, Kids Who Care has named all of our scholarships in memory of her.
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