[Music]
well Jonathan Larson was riding his
signature song for the hit Broadway
musical rent he asked his friends a
question how do you measure a year
525,600 minutes and sunsets in
Midnight’s and cups of coffee I’m sure
if I went around the room here and ask
each of you we’d come up with a wide
range of answers all based on her own
perspective but what if your perspective
changed in the blink of an eye would
your answer change too my talk today is
as much about that as it is anything
else
see my wife Nina and I are members of a
very exclusive club it’s a club no one
joins voluntarily because the initiation
fee is much too high where parents have
lost a child at 3:58 a.m. on July 25th
2009 I stood at the front door of my
house while the Florida Highway
patrolman looked me in the eye and
without him saying a word I knew my life
would never be the same
Julia bought her my 18 year old daughter
was killed on the car accident what do
you do with that tears yes
guilt yes anger yes hopelessness
absolutely but in our case well actually
the truth it’s all of this things
rolling into one but in our case we also
discover what community is about
especially the theater community
Julie’s accident happened during the run
of Oklahoma where she was stage manager
in this very theater in Broadway
tradition they dimmed the lights out
front to signify her passing but that’s
but then her friends did something else
something unexpected and her memorial
service they revealed there was a chair
backstage a chair for Julia seeing their
minds she was still part of the show
the next show they placed another chair
backstage this time they decorated it
and then the show after that and then
they spread the word to other theaters
until there’s been a Julius chair in
over 75 theaters across the country from
Florida to Washington State California
Pennsylvania North Carolina Illinois New
Jersey internationally in England in
Australia there’s been a Julia chair on
Broadway for the show’s wicked and next
to normal and Broadway touring groups
like rent and Mamma Mia we have a
Facebook page that displays all of the
chairs and many of the actors from those
productions and we invite any theatre
who wants to participate to join us
Julia was passionate about theatre and
she was dedicated to making every
production she was part of the highest
quality down to the last detail now I
travel a lot for business and at one
time I came home after being gone for
three weeks and my house was empty my
wife was out my son Joe was gone
somewhere and I knew Julie was stage
managing and working at the theatre so I
came up here to see her in the show well
at intermission she came out on the
stage and she’s moving set pieces and
props around so I walked up to the edge
of the stage
and she’s working diligently getting the
show ready for the second act
but then she disappears backstage
without so much as a glance so I went
back to my seat and I watched the rest
of the show and then later in the lobby
she came up and she gave me a hug and
she said what were you doing standing at
the edge of the stage and I said well
well Julie I haven’t seen you for three
weeks I thought I might say hello and
she looked at me and promptly said dad I
cannot break the fourth wall for those
of you don’t know the fourth wall is an
invisible barrier that separates the
stage from the audience and even though
we’re a small theater in a small town
Julia did not want to compromise the
audience experience or lower her
standard of excellence
it’s not even for her dear old death
now the concept around in 2006 on
Julia’s MySpace page there is an
original quote where Julia said a bear
stage is a sad thing but it can give
birth to so many new beginnings it’s
hopeful its optimistic it’s full of
endless possibilities that is how Julia
viewed and lived her life three days
before her accident Julia started a blog
and it’s the only entry she wrote I want
to change the world but I don’t know how
I believe she accomplished this because
how do you change the world you do it
locally you do it in your own community
you do it by having a positive impact on
the people you see every day you do it
by living your life as an example of
what you want the world to be and the
concept of Julia’s chairs and spreading
the word was nothing I did it was her
friends it was the cast and the crews in
the show she worked it was from having a
spirit that was contagious 2011 Western
watches will place the chair backstage
for the Florida theatre conference and
then they put in the note in the program
explaining it they said Julia may not be
with us physically but we feel she
touches each show that has a chair by
helping us realize that in theatre we
are all a family gathering in this art
form that we dearly love like the lives
of every individual is only here for a
brief moment and it too becomes a memory
now accepting the fact someone you love
is now a memory it’s not an easy thing
believing the world with the legacy that
makes them proud to have been part of
your life as a gift Julia gave us that
gift how many of us will continue to
struggle with acceptance or search for
answers as to why an 18 year old so full
of hope so full of promise so full of
life can be taken from us but we can
still accept Julia’s gift and we can
look to a Julius chair as a way to
signify that life is really just made up
of seemingly insignificant moments
unimportant in themselves but when put
together
there can have a long and everlasting
effect I open my remarks with a quote
from Julius favorite musical Rent so
I’ll close the same way and at Jonathan
Larson asked another question how do you
measure the life of a woman or a man and
again if we went around the room I’m
sure we would come up with a wide range
of answers but from my perspective our
value on this earth could not be
measured in time and maybe just maybe a
life should be measured in love
who’s that to you Julius chair for TEDx
useless Florida 2018 thank you
[Applause]
you
well Jonathan Larson was riding his
signature song for the hit Broadway
musical rent he asked his friends a
question how do you measure a year
525,600 minutes and sunsets in
Midnight’s and cups of coffee I’m sure
if I went around the room here and ask
each of you we’d come up with a wide
range of answers all based on her own
perspective but what if your perspective
changed in the blink of an eye would
your answer change too my talk today is
as much about that as it is anything
else
see my wife Nina and I are members of a
very exclusive club it’s a club no one
joins voluntarily because the initiation
fee is much too high where parents have
lost a child at 3:58 a.m. on July 25th
2009 I stood at the front door of my
house while the Florida Highway
patrolman looked me in the eye and
without him saying a word I knew my life
would never be the same
Julia bought her my 18 year old daughter
was killed on the car accident what do
you do with that tears yes
guilt yes anger yes hopelessness
absolutely but in our case well actually
the truth it’s all of this things
rolling into one but in our case we also
discover what community is about
especially the theater community
Julie’s accident happened during the run
of Oklahoma where she was stage manager
in this very theater in Broadway
tradition they dimmed the lights out
front to signify her passing but that’s
but then her friends did something else
something unexpected and her memorial
service they revealed there was a chair
backstage a chair for Julia seeing their
minds she was still part of the show
the next show they placed another chair
backstage this time they decorated it
and then the show after that and then
they spread the word to other theaters
until there’s been a Julius chair in
over 75 theaters across the country from
Florida to Washington State California
Pennsylvania North Carolina Illinois New
Jersey internationally in England in
Australia there’s been a Julia chair on
Broadway for the show’s wicked and next
to normal and Broadway touring groups
like rent and Mamma Mia we have a
Facebook page that displays all of the
chairs and many of the actors from those
productions and we invite any theatre
who wants to participate to join us
Julia was passionate about theatre and
she was dedicated to making every
production she was part of the highest
quality down to the last detail now I
travel a lot for business and at one
time I came home after being gone for
three weeks and my house was empty my
wife was out my son Joe was gone
somewhere and I knew Julie was stage
managing and working at the theatre so I
came up here to see her in the show well
at intermission she came out on the
stage and she’s moving set pieces and
props around so I walked up to the edge
of the stage
and she’s working diligently getting the
show ready for the second act
but then she disappears backstage
without so much as a glance so I went
back to my seat and I watched the rest
of the show and then later in the lobby
she came up and she gave me a hug and
she said what were you doing standing at
the edge of the stage and I said well
well Julie I haven’t seen you for three
weeks I thought I might say hello and
she looked at me and promptly said dad I
cannot break the fourth wall for those
of you don’t know the fourth wall is an
invisible barrier that separates the
stage from the audience and even though
we’re a small theater in a small town
Julia did not want to compromise the
audience experience or lower her
standard of excellence
it’s not even for her dear old death
now the concept around in 2006 on
Julia’s MySpace page there is an
original quote where Julia said a bear
stage is a sad thing but it can give
birth to so many new beginnings it’s
hopeful its optimistic it’s full of
endless possibilities that is how Julia
viewed and lived her life three days
before her accident Julia started a blog
and it’s the only entry she wrote I want
to change the world but I don’t know how
I believe she accomplished this because
how do you change the world you do it
locally you do it in your own community
you do it by having a positive impact on
the people you see every day you do it
by living your life as an example of
what you want the world to be and the
concept of Julia’s chairs and spreading
the word was nothing I did it was her
friends it was the cast and the crews in
the show she worked it was from having a
spirit that was contagious 2011 Western
watches will place the chair backstage
for the Florida theatre conference and
then they put in the note in the program
explaining it they said Julia may not be
with us physically but we feel she
touches each show that has a chair by
helping us realize that in theatre we
are all a family gathering in this art
form that we dearly love like the lives
of every individual is only here for a
brief moment and it too becomes a memory
now accepting the fact someone you love
is now a memory it’s not an easy thing
believing the world with the legacy that
makes them proud to have been part of
your life as a gift Julia gave us that
gift how many of us will continue to
struggle with acceptance or search for
answers as to why an 18 year old so full
of hope so full of promise so full of
life can be taken from us but we can
still accept Julia’s gift and we can
look to a Julius chair as a way to
signify that life is really just made up
of seemingly insignificant moments
unimportant in themselves but when put
together
there can have a long and everlasting
effect I open my remarks with a quote
from Julius favorite musical Rent so
I’ll close the same way and at Jonathan
Larson asked another question how do you
measure the life of a woman or a man and
again if we went around the room I’m
sure we would come up with a wide range
of answers but from my perspective our
value on this earth could not be
measured in time and maybe just maybe a
life should be measured in love
who’s that to you Julius chair for TEDx
useless Florida 2018 thank you
[Applause]
you
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