I love the 4th of
July - a day to celebrate the birth of our great country, a day of fireworks
and a day to feel patriotic. And for me,
most importantly, it means that my annual gig as a clown has come again!
That is right – you read that
correctly, my annual clown gig! You see,
I have two friends, Juggles and Glitter (yes, that is their names) who several
years ago asked if I would be interested in marching in a 4th of
July parade as a clown. No, they were
not just clowning around with me. It was
something that I had never done before, so I said yes (I am generally open to
trying new experiences).
This was not just slap on some
makeup and go. THIS WAS SERIOUS
BUSINESS. I had to learn how to be a
clown. I had to learn how to put on
clown-face makeup. I had to learn the
clown garb, most of which I borrowed from Juggles. And, I had to learn how to act like a
clown. A good clown is fun, exciting and
can make you smile. For me to join Miles
of Smiles, I had to be worthy! Since
then, I have marched in cold weather, extreme heat and humidity (this year) and
torrential downpours. To use the words
of Agent 86, Maxwell Smart, “And loving it!”
The best part, is making
children smile. Some of them sit along
the parade route, obvious in their bored expressions as their parents have dragged
them out to watch a long parade in hot weather.
However, when they see me, as the clown, coming up to them to give them
some attention, the big smiles appear.
Now, this is true of children of all ages, young and old alike. Not everyone, however, is excited to see me
coming. I walked up to a brother and
sister that were all smiles and excited I was coming up to them. The boy saw his mother stand up and said to
me, “My mother is going to take our picture.”
The mom finished standing up, turn to her right (away from us) and
proceeded to walk down the block into a crowd and out of sight. “Oh, yeah,” said the boy, “she’s afraid of
clowns.” Yes, coulrophobia (fear of
clowns) is real.
After the long parade in the
extremely hot weather was over, I had one more stop to make. At my synagogue, they were having a 4th
of July BBQ. In I walked, arms waving
overhead, yelling happy 4th of July.
The smiles were just as big when I went from table to table. These people know me and were thrilled. Many had fun (at my expense). Someone even said, “I have a serious question
to ask you, but I can’t because you are a clown!”
In both cases, being a clown
is about giving a moment of joy and happiness to someone else. I guess the old adage is true, happiness did
come from making others happy.
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| Photo by Glitter |
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