After my family moved to Sheridan, Wyoming, in the 1970’s, I entered a talent contest every year. The Stars of Tomorrow show was usually held in February. Prizes in first, second, and third place were awarded in three age groups: elementary, junior high, and high school. When I performed, I accompanied myself on the piano.
⠠⠔ 1974 when I was in the sixth grade, I sang “El Condor Pasa” by Simon and Garfunkel. I didn’t win but didn’t let that keep me from entering every year after that until my sophomore year when I sang “You Light Up My Life” and won first place. Since there were only two other contestants in that division besides me, I figured I would win something, but I never expected to win first place.
I still remember that night. They always announced the third and second-place winners first. After the other two contestants received their third and second-place trophies, the realization hit me. It was all I could do to contain myself. When my name was finally called, despite my limited vision, I sprinted across the stage to receive my prize.
I was then entitled to enter the state competition, held that year in Powell, a five-hour drive across the mountains. This contest only had two divisions, representing each of two parts of the state, with three prizes awarded in each division. My division had a lot more than three contestants, and the competition was stiff. I didn’t win, but like all other contestants, I received a trophy for participating. I still felt like a star.
The song, “You Light Up My Life,” played an important role in my adulthood as well. One year, after my late husband Bill suffered two paralyzing strokes, and I became his caregiver, I gave him a special Valentine gift. It was a doll wearing a red dress. When her hand was squeezed, she sang “You Light Up My Life.” I should have played the piano and sung him the song instead, and I eventually did. But every night before we went to bed, I would squeeze the doll’s hand, and as she sang the song, we would embrace and kiss. It was our nightly routine for a long time.
Bill did light up my life, and I didn’t realize it until after he was gone. Even when he could no longer use his left side, he lit up my days. Although he couldn’t sing, he filled my nights with song. I was drifting at sea until he told me he loved me and pulled me to shore.
Sometimes, you don’t know a good thing until it comes along, then leaves you. Bill was that good thing. Now, I’ll sing the song the way I did the night I won first place in the Stars of Tomorrow contest.
New! The Red Dress
Copyright July 2019 by DLD Books
When Eve went to her high school senior prom, she wore a red dress that her mother had made for her. That night, after dancing with the boy of her dreams, she caught him in the act with her best friend. Months later, Eve, a freshman in college, is bullied into giving the dress to her roommate. After her mother finds out, their relationship is never the same again.
Twenty-five years later, Eve, a bestselling author, is happily married with three children. Although her mother suffers from dementia, she still remembers, and Eve still harbors the guilt for giving the dress away. When she receives a Facebook friend request from her old college roommate and an invitation to her twenty-five-year high school class reunion, then meets her former best friend by chance, she must confront the past in order to face the future.
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