On a recent flight back to Japan, I was catching up on the recent (1st) seasonof the new high school musical series, “Glee” on Fox. For me this show has been a refreshing swim in the sea of high school nostalgia, though of course, not for the teenage angst of those adolescent years.

One particular scene in the pilot episode caught me quite unexpectedly. The moment when the teacher Will Shuster watches a video of himself in the glee club during his days at William McKinly High. In that moment he tears up and recalls the happiness that he experienced “back then” when he performed on stage.

I too teared up. Not moved by his tears, per se, but by my vivid memories of the pure elation of performing as a proud member of The O’Fallon High School Great Expectations Show Choir.

I LOVED IT.

I have not words to really express the depth of how much I loved it. (I need to break out into song and dance to fully express!) And watching “Glee” reminded me realize how much I love … and miss it.

Nothing has since compared to the joy of being on stage during those years. It was the most self-expressed I think I ever felt. The most happy I had ever been. Like a drug. The adrenaline. The rush. The harmonies of the songs would drown all the cares of the world, fade them away — the music, dance, and sharing with an audience. I remember how hard we worked — the hours at rehearsal — and what sacrifices had to be made in order to make it all happen. The last minute changes in our show routine. The hours of repeating dance moves, learning new ones, relearning them. Perfecting each note, each choreographed arm/leg raise to military-like precision. Timing the ensemble tap of real tap shoes to avoid a runaway train-wreck.

Yes, we were mocked in school. Called names. Considered low-lifes in the high school social class hierarchy. But it was all worth it. I would do it again in a heart beat.

The Fox show brought back so much of those amazing memories, the extremes of emotion, when everything seemed like life or death when it came to crushes and loneliness, falling in love and finding oneself, working one’s butt off and kicking the ass of the reigning show choir champions at (regionals) competition.

Anyone who has sung and danced at the same time knows that it’s not easy, esp. if you’re getting judged for vocal quality, blending, dynamics, as a CHOIR all the while maintain a quality choreographed SHOW. It may not have been an official school “sport” but between the competitions and invitationals, it had every element of a team sport. We sweated our asses off, my muscles were sore. (PROUD MARY!) No one can tell me we didn’t get a work out! We may have hated each other in real life, but we had to work together to pull of a damn good show. And those competitions were fierce — on stage and off!

For all its worth, I loved Show Choir. I was happy.

I’m forever grateful to those who made it possible, our school, my parents, others’ parents, especially to Gail Flemming, our visionary director who gave of herself in so many ways to inspire us (and to put up with our teenage drama and mega-inflated-egos). As I watch “Glee”, I count it a blessing that so many kids of this generation can experience a taste of it.

Let the music play on…! Thank you, Fox, for the show and the trip down memory lane.