Sharon Wheatley - Drive: Stories from Somewhere in the Middle of Nowhere

ADVANCE PRAISE

Sharon is big-hearted, funny, and my kind of gal. Youre going to love her.

KRISTIN CHENOWETH, Tony and Emmy Awardwinning singer and actor

A warm and enchanting road trip about love, fear, life, and the challenges of changing out a propane tank? Sharon Wheatleys vivid spirit guides us through the American pandemic with courage and a light heart.

THERESA REBECK, playwright, television writer, and novelist

Sharon Wheatley takes us on a wild journey through her Broadway life, her second marriage, the death of her parents, a cross-country RV ride, and so much more with warmth, humility, her trademark humor, and flat-out good writing. Youll want to finish it in one sitting.

SETH RUDETSKY, musician, actor, writer, and celebrated host on Sirius/XM Satelite Radios On Broadway

Sharons story reminds us that so much life can happen when youre somewhere in the middle of nowhereand she and her wonderful family are great companions for the ride. So glad we were invited along for this beautiful story of getting through one of the darkest times with wit, wisdom, and warmth. Equal parts heartbreaking and hilarious, Drive proves Sharon is just as talented and entertaining on the page as she is onstage.

IRENE SANKOFF AND DAVID HEIN, writers of the Tony Awardwinning Broadway hit, Come From Away

This book is like a public service to anyone who doesnt have a friend they periodically need to sit down on the couch with just to hear talkbecause theyre funny, sure, but also because theyre mischievously warm and decidedly not aggressive (relaxing, even), and because theyre so comfortable with their voice... and with you. You know youre in good hands with this person, so you make them coffee and selfishly demand they just talk to you, because you know youll feel safe, and amused, and moved, and ultimately taken care of as her audience of one. If you dont have a friend like this (and even if you do), Im pleased to announce you can now have Sharon Wheatley and her wonderful recollections all to yourself to make you feel like 1. someone likes you enough to take this uniquely familiar, cozy tone with you and 2. that somehow, even the hardest things in life arent things you cant (or wont) get through.

BD WONG, Tony Awardwinning actor, writer, and director

This book reflects the authors present recollections of experiences over time.
Its story and its text are the authors alone. Some details and characteristics
may be changed, some events may be compressed, and some dialogue may
be recreated.

Published by River Grove Books
Austin, TX
www.rivergrovebooks.com

Copyright 2022 Sharon Wheatley

All rights reserved.

Thank you for purchasing an authorized edition of this book and for
complying with copyright law. No part of this book may be reproduced,
stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means, electronic,
mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without written
permission from the copyright holder.

Distributed by River Grove Books

Design and composition by Greenleaf Book Group and Brian Phillips
Cover design by Greenleaf Book Group and Brian Phillips
Cover image copyright Danika Bathgate. Used under license from
Shutterstock.com

Publishers Cataloging-in-Publication data is available.

Print ISBN: 978-1-63299-522-3

eBook ISBN: 978-1-63299-523-0

First Edition

Drive is dedicated to the people in my life
who drive me to do my best.

Martha, Charlotte, and Tobi.
Or, as Tobi calls us,
The Family of Love and Wisdom.

Thank you for having grit. Thank you for being game.
Thank you for being hilarious.

Dont worry. Everything is going to be amazing.
A magnet on our refrigerator

A QUICK PREFACE

Allegedly, early on in my relationship with Martha, I promised her we would travel around in an RV someday.

I dont remember saying that.

And I have an annoying habit of remembering everything.

Martha, who defines herself as forgetful, is the most nostalgic person I know. She likes old-fashioned candy like Mary Janes and Circus Peanuts. If left to her own devices, shed watch TV through an external antenna (never cable!), with a preference for Hogans Heroes reruns or old westerns like Shane. As much as my dad would have disapproved of me marrying a woman, he would have loved watching TV with Martha. They have the same taste in both movies and snacks. When my parents died, I moved many of their things from Cincinnati to our high-rise apartment in Manhattan. Martha understands on a deep level why I had to keep a terrible orange floral couch of theirs, just as I understand her need to keep old and awesome! bottles discovered in her grandparents dirt-floored basement.

Marthas storage unit in upstate New York houses the rest of her grandparents belongings. In the very first video I have of her, which she shot and sent me with great bravado, she rolls up the garage door of the storage unit and then enthusiastically tours me through the stacks of memories. A cedar chest full of old coins! The lovers lamp! She pays for this storage unit with a check! Although recently they were transferring to an automated system online, which was horrifying and sad, but also easier. She often makes the 6-hour drive to visit her storage unit like other people go to Lake George on vacation. Martha has had this storage unit for twenty-six years.

This storage unit is the cause of great hilarity among her enormous group of friends.

This storage unit made it into our wedding vows.

I remembered the storage unit.

I forgot the RV.

CHAPTER 1

AFRICA, 2001

Ive heard many 9/11 stories. Some incredibly tragic, like the woman who lost her sister in the attack at the Pentagon, or the siblings whose dad was flying one of the planes that was hijacked and hit the twin towers. But Ive also heard stories about peoples resilience. About kindness and community. As an original cast member of Come From Away, an award-winning Broadway musical about a group of stranded travelers in the days after 9/11, I am constantly awestruck by the outpouring of emotions at the stage door. My castmates and I thank audience members as they hold our hands and tell us their stories. It sometimes feels like the final act of the show. We do our best to soothe them and listen to what they say. We all have 9/11 stories, and too many are tragic. Mine is far from tragic, but it is unusual. It started a month earlier.

On Saturday, August 11th, I was sitting in my apartment in New York City on W. 56th Street, my three-and-a-half-year-old, Charlotte, asleep in her little toddler bed. The phone rang. The time was 11:30 p.m.

Sharon? It was my mother, and she was crying. Hard. I could barely understand her, but she said something about the house being on fire and then she screamed something about my dad and a car. And then she hung up. Click. Dial tone.

So now Im in New Yorkholding a phone with a dial tone scared to death that I had just spoken to my mother for the last time. I called back. No one picked up. I called my sisters number and my brothers number. No answer. My parents lived in Cincinnati, Ohio, 638 miles away. I sat and held the phone for an hour, not moving. Barely breathing.

Finally, my phone rang again. It was my mother. Laughing.

We had all the fire trucks here. They had to block off the street! She was giddy with excitement.

My mother had a weird fascination with sirens. When I was a kid, she used to try to follow the fire trucks to their destination. On August 11th,