Enjoy a guest blog post by local KC resident Karen Kennedy, who has a special connection to The Nutcracker in more ways than one.
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My husband, Kevin, and I met in August of 2003 while working at Kohl’s. Working in the same department and quickly became friends. That December I heard about the Kansas City Ballet performing The Nutcracker and mentioned that I’d always wanted to see it. He offered to take me.
A few weeks later, he purchased the tickets, dressed up and came to pick me up. Unfortunately, I had an awful cold that day and was scheduled to work our night job directly after the performance. Having never been to the ballet and not thinking all that clearly from cold medicine, I simply put on my work clothes so he could drop me off afterwards. On our first date to the ballet, Kevin looked very handsome while I wore a t-shirt and overalls. I was horrified when we arrived and I realized my mistake, but he never said one word. We sat in the balcony of the Midland Theater (where KC Ballet performed at the time) and together enjoyed the magic of The Nutcracker; the joy of the christmas party, Clara receiving the Nutcracker, jumping at the cannon-fire of the soldiers as they fought the Mouse King, and being enchanted by the Sugar Plum Fairy.
After that evening we became inseparable. My dad had always told me I’d know when I met the right guy, and he was correct. There wasn’t a doubt in my mind. We became engaged in July of 2004 and married that October at Loose Park. That year we decided to attend The Nutcracker again, and so our holiday tradition began. It has become our biggest and most anticipated date of the year. We purchase an ornament every year we attend and on our Christmas tree there hangs a Nutcracker for every Christmas we’ve spent together.
In 2007, we welcomed our son, Jack, into our family and in 2013, our 10th year to attend The Nutcracker, we welcomed our daughter. We chose to name her Clara as it represents an important and special place in our relationship that we hold close to our hearts.
We have been married for 10 years now and including this year, have attended The Nutcracker for 11 years. We look forward to the year we can attend with both of our children so they can experience for themselves the magic and the story that brought their mom and dad together.
Kevin is a graphic designer at Century Marketing Inc.
Karen is a stay-at-home mom who enjoys scrap booking and sewing
Jack is 7 and in 1st grade; he loves to read & play on his iPad
Clara is 1 year old; she loves books and music
By Karen Kennedy
