Fame has to be worth the price you might have to pay for it

That's the way I have always thought. I think most of us go through life as ordinary people even as we might have extraordinary talents here and there, but we have made choices we think are best for us and our families which might not lead to fame. Let's face it, as long as there are movies and such, some people are going to be tapped on the shoulder to be in the limelight. It is their destiny, but I think if that kind of opportunity fails to come our way we need to find a way to be happy and content in the ordinary lives we have got. I was tapped on the shoulder with partial disability while still a child which made me fragile, too fragile for the kind of drive it takes to have a big public career. I always knew that, but life seemed good to me, and I got a family of 4 kids that made me happy. Now my son Raymond who has ended up without a family does have the path made clear for him to try to take an original show on the road. I just read on Facebook that after he takes his show to Austin, Texas for a month, he plans to take it to Nashville. Well, that is exciting stuff. I am glad for him. But doing this is a big challenge, takes alot of nerve. Raymond has always been a very nervy guy and blessed with enough good health and vitality to do theater most people never think of doing.
He has gone a lot further with his plays than I have with mine. And that took health and strength I did not have. It wasn't my fault I didn't have it, but fate deals us all a diffferent set of cards and I have always thought we should make the most of the hands we have been dealt.
I have lived in places for years that house the disabled. I moved there while my two youngest kids were still in school. They knew what it was to grow up with a disabled mother and that affected their lives, but I think they handled that handicap well, and that is what counts.
Look at James Dean. He was 22 years old, had everything going for him in Hollywood, three big hit movies already under his belt, and fate in the form of a speeding car came out of nowhere and ended not only his career but his life. Somehow that tragic death brought him even more fame. He has never been forgotten, maybe because he had it all and lost it at 22, a hell of a thing to happen to a young guy. But again, that was the hand of destiny. Must have been hard for him to accept, too, such a short life.
I am thankful for a much longer life and time to have a lot of fun and laughs with people I have met a long the way. Life seems to even out. Those privileged to enjoy fame and fortune may have to pay a big price for it. Everybody pays for what they get. There is always a price. For the choices we make. For our sins. For the riches we accrue. That might not be clear for years, but eventually everything evens out.

My fantastic header is by Connie.