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(Continued from June 9, 09)

He told me that his dream was to someday be able to sing from the stage of the "World-Famous Casino Theatre" (The theater, with its phenomenal acoustics, was the first theatre ever built to accommodate the new invention of "talking motion pictures"). Then he quickly added that this dream could probably never happen. I smiled at him and asked if he would like to sing from the stage with the curtain up or down! He looked completely dazed and said "REALLY!?!"

I said that it was going to take me a few minutes to get the theatre ready to close and he would have about ten minutes to sing (I hope that God doesn't mind, it really only took me about two minutes to take down the theatre, but I didn't want him to feel rushed).

His wife, who had not been listening to the conversation, was patiently waiting for her husband to leave the building with her. When he told her that he was going to sing from the stage, with the curtain down, she beamed like a star and quickly returned to the theatre and took her place in a back row center loge seat.



I brought the curtain down and then dimmed the lights so that the stage was properly lit and then I quickly left the theatre. Little did he know that I was hiding behind the aisle curtain so that I wouldn't miss his performance. He sang with one of the most beautiful Irish tenor voices I had ever heard. He sang three songs, all three broken up with a tear in his voice, while his wife was crying and smiling at the same time (I took a peek now and then).

When he was finished I acted as if I had finished my work, hadn't been paying any attention to him, and that it was now time to leave. If he had smiled any broader, I was afraid that his face was going to rip right down the middle! His wife gave him a big hug and kiss and they both thanked me profusely and left.

I stood there for a few moments, trying to take in what had just happened. I realized something special had occurred and I had been allowed to be part of it. That evening it occurred to me that sometimes we are not the "star", but merely a "bit player" in someone else’s life. Today most people want to be the "center of attention" and yet God often puts us in position where we are being "used" to help someone else "shine". As with the lady in the Casino Ballroom, it was not about me but about them and I had the honor to be the one to help make THEIR "dreams" come true.

Let me share something with you -- when you give to others, unselfishly, and put yourself in a "supporting" rather than "starring" role, it is one of the greatest feelings that you will ever know! To know that I was able to make two people feel as special as they did those two separate nights, made me feel special! The old saying, "It is better to give than to receive" is so very true.

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As part of the 80th Anniversary of the world-famous "Catalina Casino", I thought I would tell you another wonderful experience that I had in the Casino.

Did you know, the "Casino" has a reputation for being "haunted"? I have personally seen and heard ghosts in the Casino and I will discuss these sightings in future "blogs", if any of you are interested in hearing about them.



Over the years, as I was working at the Casino Theatre, I found that the other employees were so scared of "Casino ghosts" that they talked the manager into putting me in charge of “taking down” (closing) the theatre after the last show. The horrible job that filled them all with terror was turning off the lights before leaving the building. This task meant that I would have to be in the building when it was…DARK! (This never bothered me at all. In fact, I loved being in there with the lights off. I felt so much at peace there in the dark).

Anyway, it was about 10 years ago, soon after the episode in my last "blog" (Hopefully, you have read my blog about the old woman on her "60th Wedding Anniversary"). One evening, as I was "taking down" the theatre, I noticed that a middle-aged man was lingering behind.

I approached him and told him that I was sorry, but I had to close up the building and we would have to leave together. He asked if he could just stand there a little longer and enjoy the beautiful movie palace. He said that he lived in San Diego, that he had been coming to Catalina most of his life and could never get enough of the Casino Theatre. Then, he told me he wanted to share something with me. After the episode with the elderly lady in the ballroom, I COULDN'T WAIT to hear his story!!!

He said he had recently received his Master's Degree in Music and was now ready, after all of these years, to finally become a professional singer. He said that no matter what happened in his new career, there would always be a "dream" that he would NEVER be able to realize. I love hearing people’s “dreams" so I asked him to continue!

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WARNING: TEAR JERKER -- HAVE YOUR KLEENEX READY!
(continued from #2)

Then, when I came up running up to her and asked her to dance, she said that she just closed her eyes and put her head on my chest, because she wanted to imagine that she was dancing with her husband, as they had promised each other, sixty years before!

She then asked me where we got the music that we played and I explained that it was a long playing tape that simply had a random bunch of "Big Band" songs on it. She then told me that the song that was playing on the music system, when I ran to ask her to dance, was the very song that was playing when her husband and she were dancing sixty years ago, when he proposed to her. It became "their song"! WHAT ARE THE ODDS?

She then told me that what could have been the worse day of her life now was the BEST DAY OF HER LIFE. Because I had broken my "vow", had listened to the "Voice", I had allowed her to fulfill her and her late husband's sixty year dream!

How often to we hear the "voice" or have that unusual "urge" to call someone, or write them, or simply go out of our "comfort zone" to do something that we normally wouldn't do? How many chances have we had to, "make someone's day", or allow “something special” to happen? I have now learned to listen more often to that "Voice" and less to all of the other voices. The ones that tell me NOT to give in to these feelings because they are not socially, economically, politically correct, or simply don't fit “my” needs. My suggestion is for all of us to think less about ourselves and what people might think, and do more of what may help others.

Every once in a while…listen to that “Voice” and dance.

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At the end of the tour, I was saying my good-byes as everyone was leaving the building and the last one to come down the ramp was the little lady, bawling her eyes out! Having been brought up to believe that if there is a problem, I AM THE ONE WHO IS WRONG, I started to apologize to her for whatever it was that I did to upset her.

She quickly told me to stop talking (which is hard for me to do) and let her explain. She told me that sixty years ago, on this very day, she, and her husband to be, were dancing in the Ballroom and he proposed to her while they were dancing that evening. They vowed that evening that they would return to the Casino Ballroom sixty years from the date that he proposed. They had planned their trip and had made their reservations; however, he had died a few weeks ago. So she then had to make the TERRIBLE decision to come back to the Island ALONE. She was devastated and wasn't sure if she was going to be able to pull it off, but she had felt compelled to come.

When the music was playing and she was standing there alone, she felt terrible. (part 3 coming soon)

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We celebrated the world famous Catalina Casino’s 80th birthday last weekend - May 29. This celebration brought back a very special memory of my own and I’d like to share it with you.

WARNING: TEAR JERKER -- HAVE YOUR KLEENEX READY!!!!!

About ten years ago I was giving a tour of the Casino. (I still conduct this tour, today. You can catch me leading this special tour every Sunday and Monday). On my tour, I begin by taking the group into the movie Theatre (decorated in Art Deco Style design, it was the first movie theater in the world built for the advent of "talkies") and then we walk up a series of ramps to the Grand Ballroom (the world's largest circular “floating” ballroom).

During my tour to the Ballroom I play a tape recording of "Big Band" music and allow people to dance if they wish. After a few minutes I turn off the music and continue the tour. I get a lot of older single women on my tours and because I am limited by time (which I usually go overtime anyway, ask my boss Eric). So, I "vowed" that I would NEVER ask any of the ladies to dance, because if I danced with one, I would have to dance with all of them!

So, here we are, about ten years ago, I was standing on the stage playing the recorded music when the "Spirit" spoke to me. (If you are a "believer", then this won't come as a surprise to you. If you aren't, I guess that you will just have to trust me.) A “Voice” told me to go to a certain little old woman (she appeared to be in her 80's) and ask her to dance. First, I had the "gall" to silently explain to Him that I had a policy of NOT dancing with anyone during the tour!

Next, louder, and more forceful, the "voice" told me that I must hurry over to her and ask her to dance! This time I realized that I wasn't in the position to question so I ran across the ballroom to her and asked her to dance. She was a good deal shorter than me and her head only came up to my color bone. She immediately closed her eyes and put her head on my chest and we simply walked around on the dance floor for a while. After a few minutes, the song ended, and I thanked her. Everyone clapped and I went back to work. (to be continued-gotta go overtown now)