![\"Listen](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/debralwallace.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/17796626_10212150423331679_5930960144885694295_n.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\nIn the first read through I heard the stories of the cast and laughed and cried with them. I did the same thing the next year, and then next. \u00a0I was in my comfy photographer role – on the sidelines, wearing black, watching, observing and documenting.<\/p>\n
But then early in the morning on April 25th – shortly after the cast read through, on the day of the meet and greet happy hour, and just 18 days before the show,\u00a0my 12 year old son died.<\/p>\n
I wrote this<\/a>. \u00a0It was a story meant to be shared and it was shared widely.<\/p>\n As a result of our story – both the telling and the witnessing, the cast and production team wrapped me in a giant group hug. One by one they came up and asked me about Christian and the experience of losing him. They sent me cards, gave me flowers, brought me dinner, and gave us one of the most unexpected and generous gifts we’ve ever received. We were floored.<\/p>\n And that’s when I understood Listen to Your Mother.<\/p>\n It’s not about a bunch of women talking into a microphone. \u00a0It’s not really about making the audience laugh or cry. \u00a0It’s not about being happy or sad, fixing pain, or wallowing in it, or glossing over the rough parts. \u00a0LTYM is\u00a0about the\u00a0bonding that happens when stories are written and told in raw form and shared, and most importantly, witnessed by others.<\/p>\n It’s a place where photos don’t quite cut it and the video doesn’t either. It’s the experience of being there in the room and being in community through story – something cultures before us have done for centuries and we’ve forgotten but are reclaiming.<\/p>\n To see more images from the show, click here<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n