The Academy Awards were last night and, right out of the box, J.K. Simmons won for best supporting actor for his movie "Whiplash." I thought his acceptance speech might be about how he's been a character actor for 40 years; third or forth banana on Law and Order and The Closer and many others of my favorite TV shows. But it wasn't. His speech was about family and how we should all call our moms and dads and listen to them for as long as they want to talk.
I thank J. K. Simmons for that. We went to dinner with my son and his wife the other night. All four of us talked and, more importantly, all four of us listened. It was a wonderful evening.
The other day I was talking with my friend who recently lost her husband after a long illness. She, of course, was his caregiver. I know her family has been taking good care of her since the death. I asked how she was. She said "fine." I asked her to tell me what's really hard. She said:
"Taking the back seat."
I knew exactly what she was saying...both figuratively and literally. When she goes on outings with her kids - she's no longer driving. She's no longer even in the front seat. She's in the back seat with the kids.
In the meantime, 60 year old J. K.Simmons will no longer be in the back. He's clearly in the drivers seat, finally.
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