It Takes A Village

Well, today should be Kieran's first day of school but instead, his friends will all board the bus and greet each other in the halls while he stays at home with me. Today begins our adventure as he becomes the home schooled brother that is happily supporting his sister's dreams by moving across the country and taking on the unknown. As I sit here this morning thinking about his unselfish support, I am reminded that so many others have supported Ellysa to help make her dreams a reality as well.

The concept "It takes a village" has been shown so often lately in our lives that I don't know how any of this would be possible without our village. The support has been wide and varied. Some of you donated to her fundraising efforts, many of you sent or spoke encouraging words to her and others helped with dog sitting etc. when we needed to do something for or with Ellysa. My longtime friend, Darlene of Czech Photographic, took more photos of her than I can count and, if it weren't for our friends the Soens lending us their condo, we certainly wouldn't have been able to visit Ellysa as often at Interlochen. I am humbled by the love and support that our friends and family have shown to us and our children. I thank God that each and every one of you is in our lives and want to say Thank You for being part of our village.

Our move to LA is the biggest undertaking yet. The money we set aside to pay for Interlochen tuition this year will provide the financial support for the move. We will be living in a 600 square foot, one bedroom apartment and pinching pennies...LA isn't cheap! We will drive our 2001 Pontiac out there because flying is expensive and rental cars aren't in the budget. There will be ups and downs and, at times, we may wonder what we got ourselves into but I know, with the emotional support of our Village, everything will turn out great. And with the grace of God, we will grow in ways we can currently only imagine.

Thank you for being our very own VILLAGE PEOPLE.

Drama Mama

Ten years ago, Ellysa begged me to get her an agent in London.  I let it slide and hoped she would soon find something else to focus on.  She didn't.  All during the time we lived in the UK, she would come back to the topic time and time again.  I always said I would look into it but I never really did.  I was a RELUCTANT STAGE MOM!

I had friends whose children had been in films or stage productions in the UK.  I even had allowed Zac and Ellysa to each do one "gig" when we lived in Japan. (Zac was in a printer commercial and Ellysa did a print spread for the Shirley Temple clothing line.) But, that was as far as I was willing to go.  I was afraid of the entertainment world and really didn't want to get caught up in it.  I hoped that, eventually, Ellysa would grow out of her obsession with acting.

Right! We all know how that turned out.  Somewhere along the way, I changed my position.  I decided to stop holding her back and do what I could to help her.  I think it all started with her first attempt to attend Interlochen Arts Academy for her sophomore year.  Thinking she wouldn't even get in, she was thrilled when she received her acceptance letter but dismayed at the tuition left to pay after the 50% aid and scholarship money...$25,000!

When we told her that we just couldn't afford to send her, she was disappointed but not disheartened. She decided that she was going to raise the funds herself. We never dreamt that she could come anywhere near her goal but didn't discourage her.  That's the American way, right?! I have never seen a teenager work so hard!

Summer was just about to start and she jumped right in.  She wrote an eloquent letter to family and friends. (It was so good that at least one family member accused me of writing it for her...I assure you I did not!) Then she organized a fundraiser at our church which required special permission as they don't usually allow that type of thing.  Then she organized bottle and can drives, babysat 44 hours a week and spent her entire weekends at various festivals busking and performing. She didn't have time to spend with her friends like the other teenagers but she didn't care.  She was determined to raise the money for Interlochen. Unfortunately, she didn't reach her goal.  Let's face it...8 weeks to raise $25K is a tough task for a professional adult fundraiser, let alone a 14 year old girl.

You might say she failed.  I say she was the biggest success I had ever seen.  That 14 year old girl raised almost $8,000 during that 8 week period! It may not have been enough to send her to Interlochen that year but it taught her so much.  And God rewarded her efforts in so many ways.  One of them being that she was selected to be in the Justin Beiber movie that summer and got to invite up to three of her friends to be with her. He was one of her idols as she actually followed his career before most people knew who he was.  Ellysa is a singer songwriter as well as an actress so this was a dream come true.  She was able to go to NYC and meet friends that, up to this point, she had only communicated with over Skype and the internet...(new fangled pen pals LOL)

The next year was tough.  Returning to her public high school was hard.  She felt deflated but didn't let it change her.  She toughed it out and stood tall.  She earned the lead of JoJo in the school musical of Dr. Seuss' Seussical that year.  She applied again to Interlochen and they increased her scholarship and aid...we matched her raised funds and she was able to attend for her Junior year. She did it.  She didn't give up and she realized one of her lifelong dreams.

This is when I knew she would succeed in anything she chose to do in life.  You can't teach drive and determination.  You have it or you don't.  There are a lot of talented people out there and she will have a lot of competition along the way but I know she will succeed.

Now we are on another path...Senior Year in LA.  Kieran, Ellysa and I have rented an apartment and we leave for LA in September.  It will be hard to be so far away from home...especially as I won't get to see many of Zac's soccer games this year.  Also, I don't know where the year will lead us but I do know it will be an exciting ride.  So here begins my blog documenting our journey and my turning from reluctant stage mom to Drama Mama. Hope you enjoy reading about our adventures!