Mark and I met through the Broadway High Theater Academy in Murrieta, CA. I was the Musical Director, and Jaren was playing the saxophone in the youth orchestra.
During a rehearsal one afternoon, Drummer Tom Korner and I were discussing creating a band to showcase the kids, specifically Kristina and Jaren. Jaren mentioned that his dad played the guitar. When Mark came to pick up Jaren from rehearsal, I motioned for him to come over. (Mind you, I never met Mark before.) I said, “I hear you’re holding out on me.” Mark was taken aback. “I hear you play the guitar.” Mark smiled and said, “I dabble with it.” He then proceeded to tell me that he loved my original CD, and that he listened to it a lot. I asked if he had any CDs, and he humbly answered that he had 5. When I suggested we play together sometime, he said he would be honored. Again, I was intrigued.
He gave me his website address, and I promptly went home from rehearsal and looked it up I studied and thoroughly enjoyed the site. (Side note: His website inspired me to fall in love with creating websites.)
When that show was coming close to “performing week”, Mark began coming to the nightly rehearsals backstage, bringing meals to us, and I found myself looking very forward to seeing him. I felt a very strong connection forming. Between the Saturday shows, at a dinner break, I ran into him, his in-laws and a girlfriend. I was completely caught off guard. I absolutely did not see that coming. I awkwardly excused myself and went back to the theater, where I confided in friends how shocked I felt. My friend Norm reassured me that “whoever she is, it’s temporary because he is into you.” That evening, I knew I needed to say something because my instincts were never that far off. I went home and emailed him, “thank you for all you did during the show, Jaren did a super job, is that your girlfriend?” In the morning, I received his response email saying that it was his honor being backstage, that he thought those production days were over for him. He was grateful for everything I had done to help his son, and yes, the girl he was seeing was on and off for a few months, but now he’s met an amazingly beautiful woman who he would like to get to know better. But he needed to do the honorable thing and end things first. I was so elated. And relieved.
Saying goodbye after the final show, we looked at one another, barely talking, because we both felt like we’ve known each other before. And shortly after Thanksgiving, (less than a week later) he emailed to let me know he had broken things off. The connection was already made, and we were already together in our hearts. We hadn’t seen each other since the show, but when we got together after that email, it was like we always were
