Dark moods; dreary, deadly dark moods. I wake each morning with high anxiety; a high level of fear; always, “What if…..?” What if this bad thing occurs? What if this terrible event happens? Such recurring fears and scares!! My children hear it in my voice on the frequent phone calls. Carl trying to alleviate the pain with cheerful suggestions. “Mom, sit on the patio; enjoy your garden; enjoy the breeze today.” Emily, arriving from Boston to lift me out of the black hole.

I haven’t been to a movie theater in more than three years. What movies are the current rage? Emily, my superwoman without a cape, without a big letter S on her pink T- shirt, said, “Mom, Dad, I made reservations at the Cinemart movie theater. Dad’s seeing Oppenheimer and you and I are seeing BARBIE. I know, I saw it, but I am happy to see it again.”

Dressing in pink is a must. So out of my “blues” and into pink shirt, pants, anklets and jacket, we join all the other pink clad members to see BARBIE. This is “a happening.” Everyone on the line becomes your best friend. The ages seem to vary from eight to eighty; adding me into the scene makes it eight to ninety two. The elderly woman in front of me has her two vintage Barbies poking out of the pocket of her shoulder bag purse.

In the theater, Emily gets Ben seated comfortably at the Oppenheimer showing. BARBIE is starting a half hour later so she has time to seat me in Row E Seat 6 teaching me how to use the buttons to make the leg portion come up and out. Unable to reserve seats together, she is in Row D directly in front of me. Two friendly ladies are seated to the right of me and two to the left. They all came together.

The opening scene is hilarious and I think I’m going to be as content as my grandson Isaac who said BARBIE was the funniest movie he’d ever seen. The action is clear and needs little dialogue. Unfortunately, while my hearing

aids provide volume, they don’t seem to provide clarity. The performers could have been talking in a foreign language. In fact, that would have been better because then I would have had subtitles. Laughter to the left of me; laughter to the right. I’m the only one not laughing because I can’t make out any of the dialogue. Suddenly the woman two seats to my left leaves the theater. “Oh well,” I think, “The lady must be going to the restroom.” Then, her friend leaves also. “Strange, ten dollars and leaving before it’s over.”

When suddenly, it hits me!!! Not the revelation on the women’s departure!! DRIP! DRIP! DRIP! The water com- ing down from the ceiling !!! I’m getting wet!!” I’m getting soaked! Barbie is singing, but not in the rain!! There’s no rain on the screen. I’m drenched and screaming to my daughter who is enjoying this movie for the second time and is not getting soaked like her crazy screaming mother, one row behind her. “I’m going to float out of here! I’m going to swim out of here!” “Mom, stop yelling! You are spoiling the movie for everyone!!!!”

My daughter races me into the lobby where we meet the two other drenched, soaking wet women. Standing along side them is the friend with the purse holding the two vintage Barbies. Her wet face was not caused by the ceiling water; it was the result of tears. She had lost the head of one of her treasured dolls. Fortunately, with flashlight in hand, she and the usher had been able to find the missing head resting under the woman’s seat. We never learned where the water was coming from. On a positive note, it did provide for laughter; the BARBIE adventure did lift my spirits and shake me out of my blue mood. All of us in our wet pink outfits were a sorry sight, but also a funny sight.

I do plan to see BARBIE on my TV if it is streaming with closed captions; hopefully no water will be pouring down in my TV room!