Our family saw Wicked together last Thanksgiving. This year, we saw it again-together, yet separately, different cities, different schedules, the same emotional landing place. At the final chords, Sara's six-year-old blurted, "It's over? Is it really over?" He captured something adults often try to hide: the uneasy truth that we don't know what comes next, but we do know we've been changed.
The summer soundtrack of our family has been lifted straight out of K-Pop Demon Hunters. On long summer car rides, Sara's daughter listens with headphones, fearlessly belting along with her husband as they exchange quiet smiles in the front seat. There is a moment she always waits for - when Gen-u thanks Rumi for helping him feel again, offering her his soul. Each time, tears fill her eyes, and she reaches for her mother's hand.