Breath of Fresh Air...

I'm about to leave and take Mom to the oncologist and then for an echocardiogram (sp?), but before I do, I thought we could all use some really great news. It's especially nice to have something wonderful to help carry me through the day.

Yesterday, I was taking a break in between doctor visits. I came home to have a bite to eat while Jenice stayed with Mom. Averie got home from work and I told her what was happening with her Grandmother and in the process I began to vent about my frustrations with how things are being handled and how much I miss Charlie. As we were talking, I heard a funny "beeping" sound. I looked at Averie, and wondered out loud if that was her phone. I knew it wasn't my phone and she verified that it wasn't hers. Turns out, it was Caris' work pager. That pager hasn't beeped ONCE since she was listed with Kids Background Talent/Central Casting back in November. Suddenly, we were BOTH running to the bedroom to find the pager. The number listed was definitely LA. I called the number while Averie stood with me. Sure enough, it was for a casting/wardrobe call for a project called "Mrs. Harris." Caris fit the profile of requirements to a T.

I wasn't quite sure what to do. Should I call her at school? Should I wait? Would she lose the job if I waited until after school? She had to report the next day (Tuesday) for wardrobe if we accepted the job. I knew that she already had a singing engagement at Disneyland on Tuesday and project times would conflict. Averie urged me to call her and have her paged at school. She would definitely want to know what was going on. However, my fear was that if I did call her at school, she would think that something had happend to her grandmother and I didn't want to worry her that way. Averie still urged. She would want to know.

I did call and have her paged. While Averie and I waited for her to call back, the phone rang. Expecting it to be Caris, I was surprised by a male voice.

"Mrs. H?"

"Yes"

"Caris' mom?"

"Yes"

"This is M**** from **** Talent in Beverly Hills"

"Um...yes?"

"I'm calling on behalf of Mr. ****. He saw Caris at a showcase about a week ago?"

"Yes, she was there."

"Well, Mr. **** would like to speak with you and Caris about representing her."

(silent pause while I collected my thoughts, yet inside I was SCREAMING wildly!)

"Wow! That's wonderful!"

"Can you and Caris come to our office tomorrow at 3:00?"

"Actually, Caris has a call for wardrobe for a project tomorrow."

"Oh, she's working...that's great! Well, by all means, she should take that. When does the project shoot?"

"Thursday"

"Ok, can you come on Wednesday?"

"Yes! Wednesday would be perfect!"

"Great, we'll see you Wednesday at 3:00."

"Thank you. We'll be there"

I hang up, and Averie is right there. "Well? What was that?" I told her what was going on and expressed to her my disbelief in how things were moving so fast. She was genuinely excited for her sister and said.."This is going to be Caris' year!" It could very well be, I agreed.

Caris called back and not only was she excited about all of this, she had some great news of her own. She and her best friend Taryn had landed the role of Audrey for Little Shop of Horrors! The major roles had been double-cast and she was thrilled to be sharing it with Taryn. Now we had a bit of a scheduling problem. Would she go to the project call in Los Angeles, or would she stand by her prior commitment to sing at Disneyland? It was actually an easy choice. She prioritized and considered her reputation with her music director. She would sing. There would be other calls for work, but she had a prior commitment that she had to uphold. We would go to see the agent and perhaps he would have work for her. I was very proud of her not only for her mature deductive reasoning, but for knowing that people were counting on her and she needed/WANTED to follow through.

After Caris and I got off the phone, Averie and I celebrated for her sister. It was turning out to be a good day after all. I had to get back to Mom and get her to her appointment at her neurologist. While I was walking her into the doctor's office, Caris' pager went off again...another project call.

Looks like Averie was right. It could very well be Caris' year.