Second Chances - Dreams Do Come True

My palms are sweaty as if wearing a pair of gloves on a hot summer day. My heart is thumping, and it feels like it’s about to jump out of my chest and run away on its own.

I need to do the breathing exercise that my speech pathologist taught me. “Breathe in for 4 seconds. Breathe out for 4. Breathe in for 4 more. Breathe out for 4.” Hmmm, well, that didn’t work. My nerves are still running all over the place.

I’m super nervous today, because TODAY is the taping of the 1^st episode of the new upcoming TV show “Second Chances”. This is going to be my first time on television, and the last thing I want is to make a fool of myself and/or say something stupid. Hosted by popular TV talk show host Janie Lee, “Second Chances” is a show that’s all about giving people a second chance to go after their dreams, AND not just any dreams. Many involve chasing some of the wildest and weirdest careers ever. Take for instance, Ms. Ruby, today’s 1^st guest on the show. She’s currently a social worker but have always had the desire to want to be a chimpanzee trainer.

As she sat on the white, love-seat couch across from Janie, Janie asked “Ms. Ruby, why chimpanzees? Of all the animals in the world why on Earth would you want to train some chimps?”

“Well Janie, when I was a kid, I used to love watching the ’Discovery Channel’. One day I watched an episode on it about chimpanzees, and I fell in love with how intelligent they were. There was one who learned how to do sign language. It was then that I asked my parents to buy me one of my own. I learned later that they couldn’t actually buy one due to legalities, so I settled on the idea of becoming a trainer and working with them that way.”

Janie asked, “Ms. Ruby, it says here that you just turned 55 last month, so I just have to ask, why now? Why try to go after this now?”

“Well, you only live once, and I wanted to try it while I’m still here and while I still can.”

“Alrighty then. Well, studio audience, we sent Ms. Ruby to Detroit for a week to work with the chimpanzees at the Detroit Zoo. Let’s roll the tape to see how the week went! She is sitting here now so I think it’s safe to assume that she made it back in one piece.”

The audience chuckled.

Ms. Ruby’s video started, and from the looks of it, she had a blast. She got to feed the chimpanzees and to play with them daily. She even got the chance to help train one of them to play Tetris on a tablet computer. From what I could see, there was only one snafu that occurred while she was there. During feeding time, one of the baby chimps threw a banana at her. Ms. Ruby bent down quickly to avoid being hit, and her curly, gray wig fell completely off and onto the ground. The same baby chimp that threw the fruit hurried over, scooped up the wig, and then put it on top of its head. It was too cute to see the chimp walking around with a curly, gray wig on. Everyone in the studio laughed. At the end of the video, the zoo trainers all thanked Ms. Ruby for coming, and she did eventually get her wig back. The chimp dropped it on the ground and left it once it got tired of playing with it.

After the video stopped, the focus returned to Janie. She then announced that the zoo’s manager, Mr. Karl Thompson, was standing backstage. He came out dressed in his blue, polyester zookeeper uniform, and sat on the couch next to Ms. Ruby. He again thanked her for working with them and told her that she is welcomed back to the Detroit Zoo anytime.

After Ms. Ruby’s segment ended, the show’s producer announced it was time for a small break. During the break, I was escorted out onto the all plush, white set. The makeup artist walked over to me to touch up my makeup which was of a natural look, and the hairstylist came over as well to smooth down any misbehaved strands within my short bob. After 10 minutes, the show’s producer yelled

“Alright places everyone......we're about to start.”

Once everyone got back into place, the producer said “Ready. Take 1. Action.”

Janie Lee introduced her next guest, which was ME!

“Alright, everyone, let’s now welcome to the couch, Ms. Laura Sands.” The audience clapped. “Ms. Laura, tell us what brings you here today? What is your current job and what have you always dreamed of doing?”

“Janie, first off thanks for having me. I am so happy to be here. As for my job, I’m currently a physical therapist. I love the work that I do, but there’s something else in life that I’ve always wanted to do. I am somewhat of a scare junkie. Therefore, my dream job is to one day open and operate my very own haunted house. I want one that is opened year-round as well, not just for Halloween.”

Janie said, “Wow! Well, I can’t stand for people to try to scare me, so I definitely won’t be visiting.”

We laughed.

She then went on to say, “Everybody, we set Ms. Laura up to work with the local haunted house company, ‘Scary Times’, for a week. Even though they usually do a haunted house for Halloween, it typically takes them the entire year to plan for it. They have to draft up a theme, come up with various special effects, and test out those effects in time for Halloween. Let’s watch the video to see how things went.”

The video started, and everyone in the building was on edge. It showed some of the company’s props, decorations, and animatronics that they use inside of their haunted house every year. At the end of the video, a few of the employees said they enjoyed working with me and would love to have me back. Once the video stopped, Janie then asked, “So Ms. Laura, what do you think now? Is it something that you still want to do?”

I happily said, “Yes definitely. I am even more interested now.”

“Well ‘Scary Times’ company has a surprise for you. Their owner, Mr. Mikey Tildes, is here. Let’s welcome him out onto our set.” Mikey walked out, hugged me, and sat on the couch next to me. He was a tall, thin Caucasian guy with dark black hair who rocked a semi-gothic look.

He said, “Ms. Laura, we enjoyed having you work with us this past week so much that we would love to offer you a job with us. Would you be interested?”

I didn’t hesitate and immediately shouted “YES!”. I thought to myself, hopefully, I’ll be able to still do physical therapy as well, at least part-time.

Everyone clapped, and Janie said “That is great! Awesome! Ms. Laura, we look forward to hearing great things about you in the future.”

After my segment ended, it was time for another small break. I stood up and was about to walk off set, along with Mikey, when the show’s producer stopped me and motioned for me to stay where I was. A little surprised, I sat back down but couldn’t help but to wonder what was going on. I started thinking that maybe they needed to re-tape a part of my segment or maybe they wanted me to appear in the final shot. Whatever it was, it made my nerves run wild again. They had disappeared once I knew my segment had ended, but now, they were all over the place once again.

After 10 minutes, taping resumed, and Janie looked directly into the TV camera and said, “Ladies and gentlemen, welcome back! We have one more ‘Second Chances’ story to share with you today.”

I was sitting there stunned and thinking to myself why am I still out here? Maybe the producer made a mistake and mixed me up with the next guest.

Janie continued, “It involves a young woman who had a terrible freak accident. One day a tornado ripped through her town causing a tree to fall on her house. As a result, a part of the roof caved in, falling on this young lady, who was inside. It ended up crushing both of her legs. Once at the hospital, she was immediately rushed into surgery, and afterwards, the doctors informed her that they were able to save her legs, but that she would be paralyzed from the waist down. They also said that it was very unlikely that she would be able to ever walk again. However, with the help of a sensational physical therapist she met, this young lady found the strength to attend physical therapy for 6 months straight, and just last week, she started walking again on her own. Ladies and gentlemen, please help me welcome Ms. Terry Millender to our show.”

I was surprised when I saw Terry, one of my patients, come out walking with no crutches and no wheelchair. I was so ecstatic for her. She came and sat next to me on the couch. I hugged her, tears rolling down my eyes.

Janie said “Welcome Terry. Ms. Laura are you surprised?”

I said, “Yes totally.” We all laughed, cried, and smiled at the same time.

Janie continued. “Ms. Laura, I know you are probably thinking that our show is only about those looking to change careers but it’s also about people using their current careers to give others a second chance at their dreams as well. Terry heard you were going to be on our show and reached out to us. She told us all about what an awesome physical therapist you are and how you’ve been there every step of the way on her journey to being able to walk again. Terry, is that right?”

Terry smiled. “Yes, that’s right Janie.” Terry looked at me. “Ms. Laura, I came here today to say THANK YOU. You kept me going even when I wanted to just quit and give up. You kept pushing me and because of you, I am now walking again, and I have a second chance at being my normal self again. Thank you so much!”

The audience clapped and cheered loudly.

Janie said “Wow! That is awesome! Ms. Laura, the world is a better place because of people like you and to help show our appreciation for your selfless attitude to help others, we wanted to give you something special. Today, we are giving you $500 to spend in any way that you like. You can use it to go on vacation or maybe even purchase a few Halloween decorations to use inside your future haunted house. Feel free to use it however you like. We wish you all the best.”

I cried. I stood up, hugged Janie and said, “Thank You”. It’s funny how I was a nervous wreck at the beginning of the show and now I am all in tears, crying like a big baby. Janie and Terry got me with this one.

Janie then turned to the camera and said “Thanks everyone for joining us today for our very first episode of ‘Second Chances’. I hope you enjoyed the show and received some much-needed inspiration. See you next time and don’t forget, it’s okay if you make a mistake. Just know that it doesn’t mean that your life is over. It just means that you have a ‘Second Chance’ waiting for you right around the corner to get it right. Until next time.”