My brush with celebrity

Sometimes I think I'm just a mom and that my only claim to fame will be this fabulous child MrG and I are raising. Other times, I count myself lucky to have rubbed elbows with some really famous folks:

Ann Richards - I was a Texas Jaycee (B/CS to be exact) in the very late 80s, and we were traveling to Abilene for some sort of Jaycee political shindig. Ann Richards was either running or just about to run for the office of the Governor of Texas (who knew? I was in college and drank a lot then....). Anyway, she was at the convention center for some sort of function, and I got my picture taken with her. She was about as nice a person as I'd ever met, and I watched quietly in stunned silence a few months later as my very Republican Aggie boyfriend and all of his buddies swore at the television screen as she defeated Clayton Williams, Jr.

Tom James - this name may mean nothing to you, as it did to me the first time I heard it. All I knew is that he was an unhappy customer. The story is too long to tell, so here it is, condensed. Unhappy guy, really outstanding customer service and sucking up, helluva sales job, happy guy. After we got him all fixed up, I found out that he was the head of James Industries, the company who makes Slinky toys. Not only that, but he is the son of the guy who actually invented Slinky. And, the most amazing of all, my friend Tom James is the person who figured out that Slinkies can walk down stairs. He sent me an autographed Slinky one time, and I count it as one of my favorite possessions. By the way, he autographed the box, not the Slinky.

I've also had the opportunity through my job to meet Frank Abagnale, the guy Catch Me If you Can was written about. Same with Chris Gardener, from the Pursuit of Happyness. And early this year, I spent a few amazing minutes visiting with Archie Manning, the father of Peyton & Eli Manning.

I could tell you all about how I was supposed to ferry Cal Ripken around the back of the Mandalay Bay Convention Center on my scooter, but then I'd have to fess up to a change in plans that left me broken hearted. I also got to see Magic Johnson as he walked past me in the hall (man that guy is TALL!), but I didn't get to actually meet him.

My only real brush with fame came in college when I was a disc jockey at the local radio station. I was Deanna Scott, on 98 Country, K.O.R.A. I was the worst DJ ever to hit the Bryan College Station airways, but in hindsight, it's a cool little piece of trivia.

I'll probably never be famous, and I truly think that my fifteen minutes of fame is being spread out in 14 second increments. But it's good to know I've met some cool people. And I'm glad for my blog friends who faithfully check in with me a couple times a week (thanks, MK) and make me feel interesting.