Photo Friday: The Wizard Of Oz.

I will always have a strong connection with The Wizard of Oz. In 2007, I played Glinda in a community theatre production of The Wizard of Oz. It was one of my most memorable experiences during my community theatre years with the Calhoun Players because it was the first time that I got to play a main character. I got a blueish-green Glinda dress made and had a tiara and a wand. It was nothing short of magical. The performances of the Wizard of Oz occurred during a time of high emotion and heartache, since the sister of the guy who played the Scarecrow passed away due to an unknown heart condition the night before opening night. Though the elevated emotion added to our already present nerves, I look back on those performance nights and am proud that I got to be a part of such a strong group of people. The Calhoun Players weren’t just a theatre group to me. They were my family. During those performance nights, we came together. We came together with sad hearts, while also knowing that we all needed each other if we were going to make our performance nights as amazing as they could be. Though I have an incredibly supportive family, the members of my Calhoun Players family were also all there through a lot of my rough patches during surgeries and lots of physical therapy. They taught me that it’s possible to rise above obstacles and find a way to shine. In 2008, I did my last production with the Calhoun Players. Though I miss the “family” that I was able to be a part of, I know that all the wonderful memories will always stay with me. Through the Calhoun Players, I learned that I could be completely myself and be loved even though I was different. I learned that through tough times, everyone needs support. People like to think that they can make it alone, but we all need people by our side to be happy when we’re happy and to lend a shoulder when the harsh realities of the world just become too much for us to handle. I learned that courage is found through pain. And just because you don’t have wings doesn’t mean that you still can’t try and learn to fly.

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