The First Clue was the Salamander

I finally have something to say at 44.

That’s what I thought last week until I realized something.

I remember playing in my sandbox at about 4 years old and seeing a salamander in it. I ran to mom and dad who were moving a fridge through the front door of our farmhouse and said; "mom, dad! mom, dad! There's a baby DRAGON in my sandbox!!!"

I wasn't trying to be sensational. That's what I saw.

In the 3rd grade I wrote a play with a script and everything. It included a fairy prince that came out of a flower. Don’t ask me why or how but I can still see the image in my mind after all these years – blonde hair, green outfit, pink flower that looked like a rosebud when it was closed but a carnation when it was open, and lush green rainforest all around.

I practically demanded that my 3rd Grade teacher, who was also the concert/drama director, direct it and make it happen. I was very disappointed that she didn't. Clearly she didn’t see my vision. (However, every time I run into Mrs. Hudec she tells me that she has a shoe box filled with all the things that I created and gave to her and that she would like to give it to me someday 😊)

I guess there was more than one production.

She did end up redeeming herself though and saw talent at last when she happened to hear me singing at the community talent show at age 12 (a Reba song of course!). She approached me after and said; “I didn’t know you could sing! I’ll remember that for the Christmas concert.”

And she did. I think she gave me a whole song to sing solo every single Christmas concert until I graduated😊

And honestly, that was the turning point for me. I was gone, gone, gone after that. Music, singing, performing became my it, all and everything.

I performed pretty seriously into my late 20’s and I loved storytelling through music on stage. It's why I've loved Reba since I discovered her 32 years ago at age 12. She is the most epic performer/storyteller and had the BEST songs for it. "Fancy", "Is There Life Out There", "The Night the Lights Went Out in Georgia"... And seeing her live and WATCHING her tell the story was something else altogether. I wanted to be just like her. I wasn't the greatest singer in the world, but I could perform. I could tell a story through my performance. Reba taught me that.

And now here I am writing. Still seeing life through story and still seeing dragons in salamanders.

This morning I'm just looking back at all the clues along the way and thinking; holy cow I’ve been doing it all along 😊