Within two hours I had received an e-mail from my agent telling me that I had gotten the job! Within a few days a stylist called me to review the wardrobe selections for the commercial to make sure that I understood how I was expected to dress for the part. Surprising myself, working on the set with the camera crew and casting director felt very natural. At this point the agency is sending me out on more auditions and I am thrilled at the direction my life has taken.
What is even more interesting is that just nine years ago I was just going through a divorce when I collapsed at the gym while working out. I had experienced a double brain aneurysm. Rushed to a local hospital, I was placed in ICU on life support. For a several days, the neuro team debated about the complicated surgery and finally decided to medflight me to Dallas, Texas where a world renown neurosurgeon performed an intricate and life saving surgery.
I did not leave the hospital for two months. When I was released, a friend took me back to the house I had just purchased after my divorce. Boxes were still unpacked. It may have been a house, but it was not a home. By myself, on my walker, I would drag my right foot as I maneuvered through hallways. At that point I thought I was probably going to be in tennis shoes the rest of my life. But after months of physical therapy I was able to finally walk again without help. The potential of wearing my Gucci high heels never looked so good!
I knew I was blessed to have my health and to finish raising my daughters. It was an experience that made me stronger and grateful. I was determined at that point to live my life to the fullest and to be open to every possibility and to be fearless. I hope that watching me, my daughters will carry throughout their lives the knowledge that they are stronger than they know and wherever they find themselves in the future everything they need already resides within them.
