Wow,,what a month this has been. I don't know yet if everything that has happened to me has sunken in. I'm still somewhat in a daze..
Never, ever in my wildest dreams did I ever think I'd ever meet Clay , say nothing about being on stage with him..but there I was both in Wichita and Minneapolis..standing there wth him watching and listening to me read my story.
I had entered the contest on a whim. My friends were submitting theirs and I got caught up in the excitment. I threw it together in literally a matter of mintues, went to bed, got up , sent it to a friend who offered a few suggestions, I took them, made the changes and then pressed submit.And that was that, or so I thought!
I told noone, not even my family, because I never expected anything to come of it.
I burst into tears literally, when I got the super sekrit email that Wed afternoon before Thanksgiving. Clay wanted to hear me read my story. I wanted to email back and say "Thanks for the honor, but no thanks". I never intended to 'win'..But my friend said you have to do this and do it NOW..so I read it to her , went down to my basement that afternoon so I could be alone and read my story..7 times in fact, since I kept getting timed out!
Nothing more happened..Thurs, Friday, Sat, Sunday ...so I went shopping to prepare for my trip to Wichita the next day. I got back from shopping, checked my email around 3:30pm , saw another email from TC..opened it and that's the last thing I clearly remember! Somehow, contacts were made and I was on the road that night..including 2 stops at Walmarts desperately looking for a black top!
I still can't believe I was able to get on that stage. I think the fact that I was blinded by the spotlight helped. There could have been 1 or 10,000 people out there and I wouldn't have known the difference.
I was again asked to read in Mn..that was an experience in itself, believe me!
I didn't have a chance to Thank Clay for giving me the chance of a lifetime. I gave up a teaching career and put most of my dreams and aspirations on the back burner 32 yrs ago when I became a mother. I've been a stay at home mom ever since,,raising 6 children and up until last year, a grandchild. My kids have never known me to do or be anything other than a 'mom'.
I think I was able to go ahead and actually do this because I wanted to give my family a reason to be proud of me..to see that I can actually do something besides change diapers and do laundry.
So I just want to say THANK YOU to my friend Jane who encouraged me, helped me, laughed with me , cried with me and was with me every step of the way.
Also a THANK YOU to my newfound friends, Deb and Cindy..what a memorable first road trip, huh? I hope this was the first of many and thanks so much for bearing with me during those trying days.
AND ESPECIALLY THANK YOU TO CLAY for giving me my moment in the spotlight. I can't begin to say what that meant to me. My story was about 2004.. the Christmas I will never forget because of my son being overseas, not all pleasant memories..but thanks to Clay and his contest, he has given me another unforgettable Christmas.. Christmas 2007 ..a Christmas that proves that dreams can come true.
hosaa
mad4clay
LauraQ
dianap
fcl1
mjlitl
ClayAiken
Ethel
Clayzie
mindyj
Jemock
cobaltcupcake
mikenmoe41
khannat
clay44mate
nterry
JJAIKENFOR