This play is going to be the Most Amazing Thing Ever....

My friend from college is writing a play about Baby Jessica and has a blog for Baby Jessica-related research purposes.

Since discovering this blog I must admit that I've become suddenly obsessed with Baby Jessica. This is in part due to the fact that the blog is an absolute Work of Genius (not a phrase I use lightly, but the writing is incredible....obvs I'm a bit biased because I know that the author happens to be the Embodiment of Fabulousness, but this blog serves up many surprises--from delving into the Jungian collective unconscious to exploring the mythos of America's small towns...it also includes a pilgrimage to Midland, Texas where an 18-month-old Jessica McClure tumbled into a well in 1987 and caused a complete and utter media frenzy....first she fell into the well, and then she fell into the hearts of Americans everywhere, as it were...). However, another reason for my sudden obsession is that I remember very clearly when the whole Baby Jessica thing went down (no pun intended). I was seven years old and it freaked the bejeezus outta me. I didn't understand how the grown-ups in her life could have allowed her to fall down the well. It scared me to think that something like that could HAPPEN in this world....wasn't it the job of grown-ups everywhere to keep children--especially babies--safe?? If something like this could happen to a cute little baby, what could happen to ME??? It was my first collision with the fragile membrane that is our Mortality, and the first time that I began to understand that life just ain't fair. In my simple logic, only bad guys deserved punishment. Only bad guys deserved to fall down wells and emerge with scary boo boos. But here was a baby who had done nothing wrong, who had not yet had time to harm anyone, and who had still been trapped in a well for two and a half days.

I think that may have been part of why America was so captivated by the Baby Jessica story. She is sort of a monument to the arbitrary twists, turns, and, um, falls that life presents to us every day. She also has her own monument, which you can see on Laura's blog.

I think I am also very intrigued by the fact that she grew up and married an ex-con at the age of 19. It is strangely disconcerting when someone who had such an "indelible impact" becomes a mere mortal before your very eyes. It's like we (or, ahem, I) expected some sort of saintly existence after such a monumental back story--like she should be saving starving children or ending the AIDS crisis. But Jessica McClure Morales grew up to be a wife and a mother and lives in a cozy little house in Texas (complete with a well in the front yard). She cherishes her life and her family and has carved her own slice of meaning out of this world.

I think ultimately, though, that Laura beautifully sums up the real reason behind my own Baby Jessica obsession:

"Everyone wants to think they matter. Everyone wants to believe that you could fall into trouble and the entire world would want to rescue you."

Huzzah. I don't want to pile any pressure on Laura, but hot damn! I'm getting the bubbly ready for when this thing wins the Pulitzer.

(I've added the Baby Jessica blog to my sidebar. I think the fact that the inspiration for this play all started with a mermaid costume makes it infinitely more cool. Enjoy.)