Camera Ready

On Friday, I walked into the Greensboro Women's Resource Center for a graduation ceremony. The 15 women in the New Choices program (job-readiness training for displaced homemakers) had completed their 40-hour program and were celebrating with certificates, cake, and individual recognition.

I arrived early and decided to slip upstairs to see Ashley, the Director of the Center and my  supervisor when I ran the New Choices program.  There was a TV crew in the lobby as I walked by.  "Are you Lisa?" they asked. Lisa is the PR director for the Center.  I shook my head and continued on.

 Upstairs, I walked into Ashley's office were she and Lisa stood conferring. "Hello!" they both gushed a bit too enthusiastically when I walked in the door. "Hi," I said and nodded to Lisa. "There's a camera crew downstairs looking for you."

Lisa grabbed my arm. "Listen,  how would you like to do me a big favor?" The camera crew was there to interview Lisa about general background on the Center--who they serve, who's eligible, their mission, etc. "Would you do it?" she asked.  (For personal reasons I won't go into here, Lisa was feeling a bit shy about appearing on camera).

And that's how I found myself being interviewed on camera five minutes later. Thank God I'd dressed decent that day. (I'd come close to the leaving the house in my Old Navy t-shirt that proclaims, "I Love Mom.")  The piece I was interviewed for is part of a larger production for Guilford County Schools and will also be translated into Spanish.

My 15-minutes (or rather, 1 minute) of fame complete, I walked into the graduation room. The New Choices program coordinator informed me her scheduled speaker had cancelled and would I mind saying a few words?  I was thrilled to--I hold a warm place in my heart for the women who gradate the New Choices Program... I can't say enough about their dedication and courage and hope at a better life.

So it was quite the media morning. I love how life is like that--you think you're showing up to sit in the back of a room and applaud and the next moment you're being miked for TV and making a small speech.  Makes getting out of bed each day just that much more interesting.

You may be scooping kitty poop out of the litter box right now, but who knows what magic the day holds?