One Step Closer

As some of you may know, there's a big baseball event taking place in Kansas City as I type this evening. Yep, KC's beloved Royals made it to the World Series for the second year in a row, and this town is over-the-top baseball crazy right now. From the Royals blue water in our famous fountains to the blue glow of the buildings in downtown to the sea of people wearing Royals t-shirts and caps to the restaurants serving up blue barbecue, you can hardly turn around without bumping into something or someone displaying the color of Royals blue. While I'm far from being a huge baseball fan, I must admit that living in a town that's hosting the World Series is pretty darn cool ... especially when that World Series draws the attention of the one and only Ellen DeGeneres.

My phone was one hot mess last Sunday evening ... between all the Facebook messages, tweets, emails and texts I was receiving, I'm surprised my old Samsung Galaxy didn't bite the dust. Why all the messages, you ask? Because Ellen tweeted that she might possibly be coming to the University of Kansas the following Monday, and KU is only a half-hour drive from my house. Everyone who knows me is well aware of my desire to one day be a guest on Ellen's show, hence the reason for the bazillion messages telling me I needed to be in Lawrence on Monday. Which is exactly what every ounce of my being wanted to do on Monday, but I felt that to do so on such short notice wouldn't be fair to my co-workers, plus, I brought work home over the weekend that had to go back to the office on Monday morning. You can't begin to imagine how sad I was by the time I got to work ... there was a very strong possibility that in a few short hours Ellen ... the Ellen ... was going to be only a short drive away and I was going to miss my chance to meet her. 

After dropping my things off at my desk, I went downstairs to return the work I had done on Sunday and was greeted by several of my co-workers saying, "Why are you here? Why aren't you on your way to Lawrence to see Ellen? Get out of here and go!" I ran back upstairs to my desk, sent an email telling everyone I was leaving and raced home to change clothes ... come on, I couldn't meet Ellen without my bow tie, suspenders, shiny shoes and royal blue dress shirt. I called a dear friend and asked if she wanted to go with me, and she said, "Of course!" ... she may not have agreed so quickly had she been witness to my incredible excitement firsthand ... I'm not gonna lie ... I was beyond excited and by the time she got to my house, I was bouncing off the walls and raring to go. 

I'll spare you all the details of our grand adventure, but it was one of the most fun days I've had in a long time. It turned out that Ellen wasn't actually going to be at the event, but she did do a livestream feed with the group that had gathered which made it kind of sort feel like she was there. I was interviewed by a couple of television and newspaper reporters and got to talk with one of the Ellen's producers for several minutes ... it was the bow tie and suspenders that caught their attention. Well, my attire plus the fact that I was one of only a very few older folks surrounding by a bunch of screaming college kids. In other words, I stuck out like a sore thumb, which for once in my life was actually a good thing. Though I didn't get to meet Ellen, I did get to meet some really cool people on Monday, including the two students who helped my friend and I find our way around the campus and get to the location for the taping of the show in time to be right on the front lines for all of the action.

I was thinking about Monday's experience as I drove home this evening and how glad I am that I followed my heart and left work that day to chase after my dream of one day being a guest on Ellen's show. And by the way, I don't want to be on her show because I want to be famous ... I want to be on her show because she could take my story and help so many people ... I want to be on her show because I don't want one more person to think the only way out of their pain is to die. I know I'm a long way from getting there, but Monday sure put me one step closer to Ellen. One step closer ... maybe that's what life is all about, getting one step closer every day to being the person I was meant to be. Maybe ... maybe indeed.

(Want to see me kind of sort of almost on the Ellen Show? Click here.)