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Send them to OurAmericanStories.com. They're some of our favorites. And today we have a story from where we live. Right here in Oxford, Mississippi.
And it's a small town, a small college town, home of Ole Miss, about an hour south of Memphis. Steve Thomas has lived in our town for over 30 years. Today, he's here to share with us his story.
Take it away, Faith. Steve Thomas is a magician and balloon-making expert. He goes to the local farmer's market and events here in town to make balloons for people.
He's our own personal small town celebrity. Steve has always loved magic. But his path to full-time magician and balloon artist didn't start until his 40s. Steve has had several jobs throughout his career. He started off in radio, where he worked for over 20 years. After his time in radio came to an end, he went to work for FedEx and became a dangerous goods specialist.
He worked at FedEx for 14 years. Until one day, something happened. Just over a decade ago, he was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease. I was at work one night and I picked up a one-pound box and turned around and set it down and my shoulder popped. And that was all she wrote for the shoulder. So I ended up having really extensive, four different procedures on my right shoulder. And when I got done with that, I had a little tremor and the doctor eventually figured out what it was.
And of course, FedEx said, if you can't come back to work at 100 percent, don't come back at all. There's several different ways that you can manifest the condition. It's basically your body doesn't produce enough dopamine or produces too much dopamine or your dopamine receptors.
The things that take it in after it's produced don't work correctly or the synapses that go from the muscles to the brain don't work correctly because of the lack of that. So it's just a long process of trying to figure out what medicine to give you, whether you need more dopamine, whether you need the receptors worked on. And now they're talking about brain surgery. And, you know, I mean, I have the best brain in the world, but I only get one.
And I don't want them to go digging around in there and hook the wrong voltage battery up. It's progressive. But like my doctor said, I've had three or four doctors because they move off. They're all neuromotor specialists. And they'll tell you Parkinson's doesn't kill you. You don't die from Parkinson's.
I mean, you may lose the use of an arm or a leg or get tremors. And mine's unilateral. It's in the left side of my brain, which means it affects the right side of my body. About 80 percent of us in my arm, 20 percent of my leg, occasionally a little flutter in my eye.
But if you meet me and watch me work, chances are, if I'm not moving or doing anything, I'll have a hand in my pocket. That's to kind of hide that little tremor thing that goes on. But it gets to a lot of people.
My father was diagnosed at one point in his late years with what they thought was Parkinson's. And he cried. You know, I don't see the purpose in crying.
It's non-productive. Steve was not always so relaxed in his response to life. I've always, well, you've got to realize when I was a kid, I was a ball of nerves. I had an ulcer when I was like six. Yeah, a peptic ulcer just from worrying and stress. I learned early on worrying doesn't change anything. It's not going to change the outcome of anything.
Just do what you're going to do and be who you're going to be. A bleeding ulcer will do that for you. When they start talking about you've got to take this medicine as long as you have it.
And I think, you know, that was a long time ago. I'm sure it may not have even been with what the doctor said it was. But you just can't let it get to you. I mean, if you're going to spend your day that would be an otherwise good day worrying about how tomorrow is going to be, then you just screwed up today. I guess I can talk about Parkinson's patients because I am one.
You know, relax. I mean, I know people who've had Parkinson's two years and they can't get up out of a wheelchair. And I, you know, mine is minimal.
My progression is very minimal. If it hadn't been for the results of a DAT scan, I don't think the doctor would even admit that I had it. But it showed up. You know, they inject you with some radioactive stuff and then stick you in a CAT scan machine. After he was diagnosed with Parkinson's, he left FedEx and returned to something he was familiar with. Magic. I have actually been doing magic and entertaining people for forty four years now. And when I was a kid, I did shows, did my first show when I was nine. It was a paid thing. I remember my buddy and I performed together and we told her it was five dollars and she gave us each five dollars.
Well, we thought we'd hit a gold mine if you get paid twice as much as you're expecting. So I did that for a while. And then I packed away all the magic when I got into the radio thing, because, you know, I was up at three o'clock every morning. And after I got married or I was after I met my wife, I was at my father's house and I went in his storage shed and there's all this magic stuff.
I thought, well, why don't I start using some of this? So it went from, you know, liquor store cardboard box full of magic stuff to I have a thousand square feet in my house now. That's nothing but magic. Everything on the walls, you know, everything decorating all the books. Twelve bookcases full of magic books. And somewhere along in there while I was entertaining it, because I did 12 years of Pizza Hut restaurants for kids night, somewhere in there I decided to get balloon art because they wanted something more conducive to littler kids. So I started doing that probably 15, 16 years ago. And you've been listening to Steve Thomas and he's our local celebrity, the magician, the guy who shows up at the parties, entertains the kids.
Everybody knows him in town. Struck with Parkinson, a tough disease. He said, I didn't see the purpose in crying.
It's nonproductive. And he knew a lot about the kind of person who worries himself to death because he was that person when he was younger. More of Steve Thomas's life here on our American stories. Folks, if you love the great American stories we tell and love America like we do, we're asking you to become a part of the Our American Stories family. If you agree that America is a good and great country, please make a donation. A monthly gift of seventeen dollars and seventy six cents is fast becoming a favorite option for supporters. Go to our American stories dot com now and go to the donate button and help us keep the great American stories coming.
That's our American stories dot com. I know everything there is to know about running a coffee shop, but for small business insurance, I need my State Farm agent. They make sure my business stays piping hot and I stay cool and confident. See, they're small business owners, too, so they know how to help you best. State Farm is in your corner and on it. Like a good neighbor, State Farm is there.
Call your local State Farm agent for a quote today. Doing household chores can be time consuming and tedious, and there's nothing more daunting than facing piles of laundry that need to be done. It can be so overwhelming. So if you want to get those larger laundry loads done right and get back to doing the things you enjoy, try all free clear mega packs. All free clear mega packs are bigger packs with two times the cleaning ingredients compared to a regular pack. So you can tackle any laundry load without the worry. All free clear mega packs are also 100 percent free of perfumes and dyes and gentle on skin, which is great for any family's sensitive skin needs. So the next time you come home from vacation or the kids get back from summer camp and you're faced with a giant pile of laundry. Just know that all free clear mega packs have your back.
Purchase all free clear mega packs today and conquer any laundry load for all fabric types. Hey, you guys, this is Tori and Jenny with the 9 0 2 1 OMG podcast. We have such a special episode brought to you by nerd tech ODT.
We recorded it at I heart radio's 10th pole event. Wingo Tango. Did you know that nerd tech ODT remejipants 75 milligrams can help migraine sufferers still attend such an exciting event like Wingo Tango?
It's true. I had one that night and I took my nerd tech ODT and I was present and had an amazing time. Here's a little glimpse of our conversation with some of our closest friends. This episode was brought to you by nerd tech ODT remejipants 75 milligrams. Life with migraine attacks can mean missing out on big moments with friends and family.
But thankfully, nerd tech ODT remejipants 75 milligrams is the only medication that is proven to treat a migraine attack and prevent episodic migraines in adults. So lively events like Wingo Tango don't have to be missed. And we return to our American stories and to Steve Thomas's story, our local magician and balloon art expert. Let's return to faith and continue this story. When Steve was young, he had to read a lot of books in order to learn about magic. You would go to the library and you'd check out whatever magic book you could find and you'd absorb everything in that. And after you've covered all the magic books, even back then, there wasn't much to do, especially here. There's a magic shop in Memphis. My parents would take me there occasionally. And I would learn a couple of things from one of the guys working there and work on those. Now I have kids who come over to my house for magic tutoring and magic lessons.
I guess what comes around goes around. I'm glad to see some kids getting into magic. Steve performs for all ages, but he has his favorites. You know, there's nothing better than a birthday party for like a 50 year old lady and everybody's having a good time. And you can just do things because you know, with people that age, you don't have to worry about comprehension. Whereas if you have a group of 50 kids and there's some three and four and five year olds in there, there's a little comprehension issue. You have to keep gear things toward the younger audience. And, you know, I do that.
I live just to make kids smile and laugh. Throughout his magic career, Steve's son and daughter have played roles in some of his shows. There are many times he's taken a show on the road, which provided some great quality time for Steve and his son.
Everywhere from furthest north I've been is New London, Missouri, furthest south is New Orleans and any state in between there. I'm getting kind of old and I'm not big on that, you know, two weeks away from home thing. But we used to do library shows every summer. We would book two weeks and every day we would have two shows in two different towns. And my son and I would load up all our stuff and we'd go out, go to the town, get a hotel room, go set up the stuff at the library, go have dinner, go home, go back to the hotel, go to sleep, get up the next day, do the show, move on to the next town. Some of our best times and some of the most interesting conversations we've ever had. Yeah, because my son could come up with some lines that would crack you up.
He's a hilarious human being. Some of our funniest moments were in New Orleans when I distinctly remember he was 11. And I scheduled a meeting with a friend of mine who also does balloons and he's clown and he's goofy. So we're in this little hole in the wall, like five table bar, middle of the day. And we start doing balloons.
There's a big pile of balloons on the table and this drunk blonde girl comes up and says, Oh, do you two do balloons? And I looked at my friend and he looked at me and we just shook our heads. But so we made some balloons for her and she gave us a bunch of money.
And my son's sitting there being real quiet. So she came time to leave for her to leave. And she walked up and she gave us some more money and she had a basketball pick sheet. And I don't know the first thing about sports. I know football is the one that's pointy on the ends. That's the only thing I know. But she came up and she said, I need somebody to help me with this basketball pick sheet.
Can you help me? And my buddy Joe, he didn't know anything about it. I didn't know anything about it. I said, here's your man right here, pointing at my son. He's 11.
So he B.S. her along with the best of them. And she gave him some money. And she said, my son's 11.
She's college. She said, well, I don't know how I can ever thank you. And he looked there square in the eye and he said, how about you give me your phone number? And I was speechless. And that's very rare for me to be speechless. I said, boy, what did you say? You are 11 years old.
He said, can't hurt to ask. After living in Oxford for so many years and doing magic and balloon art for parties throughout that time, Steve is widely recognized. I met Steve at the coffee shop on the square here in town. If you go there often enough, you'll begin to see a lot of the same people. And there are always kids in there. They're always coming up to the table talking to me and they're always waving at me from across the room. And I think that's great.
I love making friends. And I've seen these kids grow up. I get parents who come up to me and say, oh, yeah, you did my birthday party when I was five. This is my little girl. She's seven.
We want to see if you can come to her party. So along with making me feel really old, it makes me feel good that they remember who I am and what I do. Some people who are children's entertainers talk about, oh, the kids are so bad.
The kids are so bad. What do you do to keep the kids in line while you're doing shows? What are some of your techniques?
Well, my technique is I'm six foot three and I weigh two hundred sixty five pounds. And I've developed this little goatee that has a purpose, makes you look a little more grown up. I have an earring in each ear, which I guess makes the kids think you're not like a normal you're not like dad.
So they tend to act right. Of course, before our conversation was over, I had to ask Steve to make a balloon for me. He carries balloons with him all the time. And of course, I carry balloons. Let's what do we have here? Let's see what happens. Oh, perfect. Perfect. And if you ever see me in the coffee shop, put out a bag of balloons.
I'm trying to cheer up a kid who looks like he's having a bad day. That's another thing that most people don't realize is people see me do balloons and I mouth inflate. Most people don't because it takes a lot of lung power to blow up one of these balloons. And I have apnea. I sleep with a breathing machine every night. Well, in one of my pulmonologist meetings or appointments, I asked. I told the doctor what I do. And he's like, well, let's test you out. We tested out my lung capacity and I have almost double the lung capacity and lung strength from doing this.
So you take the green one and you twist it and you twist it and you twist it. I could give you a ballooning lesson. Next time I see you in the coffee shop, I'll bring out a bag of balloons.
It looks less creepy if somebody's sitting there with you doing. And there are a lot of people who are fantastic with balloons. I have friends all over the world who can make life sized motorcycles. And that's great. But that takes like three days.
I would rather make something quick and easy. And I think my entertainment value comes more in the interaction between me and the child or the parents than it does. The fact that your balloon looks exactly like, you know, Ronald Reagan or whoever, whatever you're trying to make.
Then you take the heart, stretch the heart, tweak the heart. And people watch me do balloons a lot of times. They'll carry on a conversation the same time I'm doing it.
You're not even watching what you're doing. Anything I make, I can make behind my back or without looking at what I'm doing. And this goes on your arm. I'll save it for you. I won't walk out with it. And, you know, that will put a smile on a teacher's face, a child's face, a mom's face. Doesn't matter.
80 year old lady. I think it's that you can be creative with them. But, you know, if you give a just a round of balloon. And I don't recommend doing this because even I have my limitations. I won't do a balloon for anybody under four because of the whole choking hazard.
I mean, if I know the child and I know that they're not going to they're smart enough to not be sticking their fist in their mouth. I'll do a balloon for him. But if you give like a five year old a round balloon, just a round balloon with no picture on it or anything, they'll play with it until it pops. They'll play with it for hours. And I don't know what it is.
Just what do they say? It's a it's a gift. It's a bag of my breath. That's our local magician and balloon art expert, Steve Thomas. And I'm Faith Buchanan for Our American Stories. It's just a bag of my breath.
It's much more than that. Any of us could try this. I've tried 100 times.
In fact, this year I now have a new New Year's resolution. It's to get Steve Thomas to teach me how to do balloons. I live just to make kids smile and laugh, he said. And I try to cheer up a kid who's having a bad day. A great story about a guy who deals with, well, a really tough and slow and debilitating disease called Parkinson's by ignoring it and just going on about his day, cheerfully making other people's days happier.
Steve Thomas's story here on Our American Stories. I know everything there is to know about running a coffee shop, but for small business insurance, I need my State Farm agent. They make sure my business stays piping hot and I stay cool and confident. See, they're small business owners, too, so they know how to help you best. State Farm is in your corner and on it. Like a good neighbor, State Farm is there.
Call your local State Farm agent for a quote today. Doing household chores can be time consuming and tedious, and there's nothing more daunting than facing piles of laundry that need to be done. It can be so overwhelming. So if you want to get those larger laundry loads done right and get back to doing the things you enjoy, try all free clear mega packs. All free clear mega packs are bigger packs with two times the cleaning ingredients compared to a regular pack, so you can tackle any laundry load without the worry. All free clear mega packs are also 100% free of perfumes and dyes and gentle on skin, which is great for any family's sensitive skin needs. So the next time you come home from vacation or the kids get back from summer camp and you're faced with a giant pile of laundry, just know that all free clear mega packs have your back.
Purchase all free clear mega packs today and conquer any laundry load for all fabric types. Hey, you guys, this is Tori and Jenny with the 90210MG podcast. We have such a special episode brought to you by NERTEC ODT. We recorded it at iHeartRadio's 10th poll event, Wango Tango. Did you know that NERTEC ODT Remedipant 75 milligrams can help migraine sufferers still attend such an exciting event like Wango Tango?
It's true. I had one that night and I took my NERTEC ODT and I was present and had an amazing time. Here's a little glimpse of our conversation with some of our closest friends. This episode was brought to you by NERTEC ODT Remedipant 75 milligrams.
Life with migraine attacks can mean missing out on big moments with friends and family, but thankfully, NERTEC ODT Remedipant 75 milligrams is the only medication that is proven to treat a migraine attack and prevent episodic migraines in adults. So lively events like Wango Tango don't have to be missed. And we return to our American stories. Up next, we'll hear from Donna Martin. She'll be telling us about her first time leaving Mississippi at age 19 for a summer job in Yosemite, California, where she thought she was headed to become a famous movie star. But life had other and better plans for her.
Let's take a listen. I grew up in Forest, Mississippi, and I lived on the same street as a major chicken plant. So depending on what time of day it was, there may be a really horrible smell.
So that was kind of interesting. I also lived at the bottom of that street. So if I was ever outside in the front yard or whatever, there was a stop sign right there. So people would just like always be looking at you. I just remember always being like, I'm never going to live at the end of a street when I grow up and have my own house because it felt like not very much privacy.
The whole time I was living at home, it was great. But I just knew when I got in high school that I was going to leave Mississippi at some point, probably never go back. I knew pretty young that I wanted to be a movie star. I would like always think about like how I was going to get to Hollywood, how I was going to be famous. It was kind of a thing.
Like everybody did that about me. And so my really good friend was at a university and she called me when like, I don't know, spring, I think. And she's like, Hey, Donna, oh my goodness, these recruiters came to our school today and they had this summer program and we can go work in California. So immediately I was like, oh my goodness, we're so doing that.
Can you sign me up? And she signed us up and I was just so excited because I was going to be in California. So I was going to be able to like work during the day and then on the weekends or at night or whatever, I would go for my auditions and then I was going to be famous and never come home. What they asked you was like some of your skills or hobbies, and they gave you like a list of jobs that were available. Well, I had been a lifeguard just like in the summers back home. So I signed up to be a lifeguard, had all my training and everything.
And I think that's the only thing I checked. And they were like, oh yeah, I'm the Rhett Miller. Yeah, you got hired as a lifeguard. So we got the trip planned and left on May 10th. And when we landed, we had to have some sort of transportation to get us from the airport to Yosemite. Her dad was like, I don't want y'all just taking any old taxi cab.
He was scared for us girls to be by ourself. So he had us a limousine. And that was really neat because I had been in a limousine one time just for like the prom or something, but like we got to be in this limousine and it was all nice. And the driver pops open champagne and like lets us drink alcohol and everything.
So of course we're all away from our parents. And of course we want to open up champagne. So like, yay, celebrate. So we're like having champagne and having so much fun.
And then all of a sudden he is smoking and it's not a cigarette. I'm a nervous person. So I was kind of like, okay, let's all be aware of things that are happening. And my friend is not being aware of things that are happening.
She's really relaxed and having a good time. And it's so funny because her dad made sure that we were safe to have this driver and he's not being safe at all. And we have to start going up this mountain and it's very twisty turny. Like if you look off to the side, you're like, oh goodness, there's cliffs. So we're going slow in this big humongous limousine and we're going around these twisty mountains being so careful.
Well, my friend starts feeling bad from the partaking of whatever that dude was offering. And so we had to pull over and this humongous, I mean, this is old school limousines. Limousines are big, but like the old school ones, it's very big. And so there's nowhere to pull off on the side of the road because there is no side of the road because you're going up a mountain.
So we're basically hogging up a whole entire side of a mountain. And by this time, the driver's starting to get testy with us, too. And he's like, you got to come on. And so I just had to like say, pull it together. You got to get in the car. You know, we finally get to where we're getting dropped off and all I took was two hundred dollars in traveler's checks.
That's what my mom gave me. So we got there and I grew up in the south. This is May the 10th. So it's really hot and humid the whole summer. So I packed, you know, shorts and T-shirts and tank tops and we get out of the car and there is snow on top of the mountains and I am in shorts. It was freezing. So thank goodness my mom had given me these two hundred dollars in traveler's checks that were for emergencies. Well, I immediately had to go to the mountain store and buy a wardrobe.
I had to buy long johns, hiking boots, these thick socks, probably for skiers. So once I spent it, that was it. And I wasn't getting any more except for what I worked for. And so I had to wear those same long johns until it got warm enough that I didn't have to wear them. And we had to like go like to a wash interior to wash our clothes and it wasn't always available when you needed it.
So it was just kind of a dirty situation. So we go to our lodging, find out where we're going to live. And it was a tent cabin. And if you don't know what that is, the roof and sides are a literally a tent.
Like you could punch your fist through your wall. And the bottom was a wood floor. So half cabin, half tent, tent cabin is what they called it. And they were like, do not have any food. You're not allowed any food because there's bears and they will come and eat your food. So that was scary.
So absolutely. I did not have food ever with me. So I ate a lot before I got to my tent because you're not eating again once you're in that tent. I don't even think I knew Yosemite was like a mountain thing.
I mean, people go there to rock climb. I didn't even have those thoughts. I was just trying to get to California to go be famous. And I was thinking it was going to be close. I realize now we're in Northern California. Southern California is where I would have to go to Hollywood or whatever to do these auditions. I don't even know how many hours it would have taken to get there.
Like it would have been impossible. But I did not know that going in. So I was just like, OK, I'm going to go be a lifeguard, be all tan, amazing, whatever. And then at night and on the weekends, my days off, I'll just be bop over to Southern California, Hollywood and do my auditions.
And, you know, this will be great. So the next day is our orientation to find out what we're doing. We all go and get our little job assignment since I'm prepared, you know, to be a lifeguard.
And the pool is not open yet and won't be for some time because it's freezing. So I am going to be in housekeeping. So I'm like, OK, housekeeping, I can do this.
That's how I make money at home in my house. I mean, it was easy. I knew how to vacuum dust.
OK, this is a piece of cake. So first of all, I had to wear this stiff, scratchy, tight, horrific outfit that was like not adorable. So uncomfortable that outfit they made us wear. I don't even know what material it was. It was almost like canvas.
I don't know. It didn't wrinkle. I'll tell you that it didn't wrinkle.
You could have run over it with a car and it would not have a mark. It was really stiff. So we had these outfits and we go get our assignments. And I'm with this man who's like way older than me. So he tells us what we have to do. And we got to clean the really nice hotels, nice rooms.
So this other man was kind of over that guy. And he said, you got to really clean good because he said this lady was going to come behind us and check. You're going to be in big trouble if you didn't clean it good. And she did like a white glove inspection. So I was terrified that this mean lady was going to be like mean to me. So I tried to really clean good. I found out later that wasn't true.
No one ever came and really checked on me or anything, but I made sure they weren't. And we're listening to Donna Martin tell her story, her adventure to California, where she thought she'd, well, find stardom and never come home, only there was a slight detour and a slight miscalculation. When we come back, more of this American dreamer story that didn't quite work out here on our American story. I know everything there is to know about running a coffee shop, but for small business insurance, I need my state farm agent. They make sure my business stays piping hot and I stay cool and confident. See, they're small business owners, too, so they know how to help you best. State Farm is in your corner and on it. Like a good neighbor, State Farm is there.
Call your local State Farm agent for a quote today. Doing household chores can be time consuming and tedious, and there's nothing more daunting than facing piles of laundry that need to be done. It can be so overwhelming. So if you want to get those larger laundry loads done right and get back to doing the things you enjoy, try All-Free Clear Mega Packs. All-Free Clear Mega Packs are bigger packs with two times the cleaning ingredients compared to a regular pack, so you can tackle any laundry load without the worry. All-Free Clear Mega Packs are also 100% free of perfumes and dyes and gentle on skin, which is great for any family's sensitive skin needs. So the next time you come home from vacation or the kids get back from summer camp and you're faced with a giant pile of laundry, just know that All-Free Clear Mega Packs have your back.
Purchase All-Free Clear Mega Packs today and conquer any laundry load for all fabric types. Hey, you guys, this is Tori and Jenny with the 902.1 OMG podcast. We have such a special episode brought to you by NerdTech ODT. We recorded it at I Heart Radio's 10th poll event, Wango Tango. Did you know that NerdTech ODT Remedapants 75 milligrams can help migraine sufferers still attend such an exciting event like Wango Tango?
It's true. I had one that night and I took my NerdTech ODT and I was present and had an amazing time. Here's a little glimpse of our conversation with some of our closest friends. This episode was brought to you by NerdTech ODT Remedapants 75 milligrams.
Life with migraine attacks can mean missing out on big moments with friends and family, but thankfully, NerdTech ODT Remedapants 75 milligrams is the only medication that is proven to treat a migraine attack and prevent episodic migraines in adults. So lively events like Wango Tango don't have to be missed. And we're back with our American stories and with Donna Martin and her story. When we last left off, she'd gotten her job assignment after arriving in Yosemite, which she thought would be being a lifeguard, something she was qualified to do. She ended up instead being placed in housekeeping. I think it was about three weeks I had to do that job.
At this point, I had to put that bathing suit on and this lifeguard bathing suit was not flattering at all. And the food there was amazing. Things I had never even heard of like manicotti.
I'd never I didn't know what manicotti was. That was so good. And you went through this cafeteria, but it was really good food. And like the dessert for these humongous pieces of cake. It was the biggest piece of cake. You can't imagine how big this cake was. So it did not take long at all to gain a lot of weight. I did not realize how much weight I really gained until when I put my bathing suit on and I bent over and like something popped and like broke in it. And I was like, oh, my goodness.
So the food was really good. So one day I was lifeguarding and I was looking around and I see like right under my chair, under the lifeguard stand, I see this little boy and I can tell that his feet are not touching the bottom. But he's not moving. He's got his head looking up and he's not yelling.
He's not doing anything. I was like, I've got to help him. So I didn't want to jump down in the water because I would have jumped on him. So I just jumped off the side and just I didn't even climb down or anything, which I didn't realize that till later. But I had this horrible bruise on my heel.
So I got him and he just went off with his family or whatever. And my heel was like really hurting. And I just called my mom back home and was just telling her about it. And she goes, oh, yeah, that sounds like a stone bruise, which I think it must be some kind of a southern thing to say, because, you know, thinking back on it now. She's like, that sounds like a stone bruise where you hit your heel on concrete, I guess. I don't know. And so the remedy for it, this is what she told me. She said, go get a potato and cut it in half and put the potato, the inside, the white part of the potato, put it on your heel.
And I guess it was supposed to take the pain away. I don't know. I did it. So I'm thinking back on that now that I'm sure everybody's like, who is this country bumpkin walking around with the potato on her heel?
What are you even doing? So that was kind of crazy how I think about it. It worked. One weekend, I finally got a weekend off me and this other friend. We decided we were going to go to Santa Cruz. In my mind, we were heading far away and the word Santa just sounded close to where I needed to be. Santa Monica.
I mean, like all these places to go be famous. So we get in her car and wind down the road and we go in her little red car that was like didn't even have a backseat. Just this little red car. And I realized to be fast, like it took us so long to get there. There was no way I was going to go any further. Like she's like, yeah, we're not going to make it any further. So we got to head back. We had to be back to work. And so I realized we were not going to be getting to do any auditions.
Clearly, being in Yosemite was not going to get me close to L.A. to go do my auditions. So I just thought I would go back to college again and figure out what I was going to do next. I ended up going to Ole Miss and a friend of mine was like, hey, we are hiring $10 an hour. All you have to do is call alumni. You're asking for money. You make $10 an hour.
Do you want to do it? I was like, yeah, that sounds easy. So you get these folders of all these alumni to call to ask for donations. So I had somebody in my little files and it said that she was in New York City and that she was an actress and that she worked at this performing art school in New York City. So I was so excited. So everybody's like making their calls. And I called her and I was like, hi, I'm calling from Ole Miss and we're just calling the alumni.
Well, I don't even ask her for the money because I just want to ask her all about New York and how she got to do this. So we had this long conversation and she gives me her, you know, permission to call her again. And she was telling me where she lived and she was going to help me.
And so I was so excited about that. So I had it all planned and I had started dating this guy and I was telling him what I was going to do, that I was going to New York and I was going to be an actress and he was going to be going to medical school. And I mean, we liked each other, but like, OK, that's great, but I guess I'll never see you again after the summer. And then I talked to my mom about my plans and I was getting excited, you know, we need to get our airline tickets and everything to get in New York. And she tells me, no, I want you to get your degree.
Then I was like, OK, well, it was going to work out and we can hang out and like each other more because I'm going to be staying around longer to graduate. So now I'm going to be going back to school in the fall. And I realize I don't like this theater stuff.
I don't even want to do that. I just want to be a movie star. I don't want to do theater. So I was changing my major again. So then it kept pushing how long I was going to graduate because I kept changing my major. I thought I was going to be a nurse and could not pass the classes. So I remember being in the grocery store with my then boyfriend and I remember saying, I've got to have something to graduate with. You know, the theater thing didn't work out.
The nursing thing didn't work out. And he goes, well, you've got a lot of English classes. Why don't you just graduate and major in English? So it ended up being fine because I had so many classes in English that I was able to graduate with an English degree.
So I ended up changing my major for the seventh time by becoming an English major. I got to take this creative writing class. We had these writers in residence that would come and teach your class. And Barry Hannah was the same as writer. And he got to come and teach the class. And so one day he gave us this exercise and it was like he said, go. And you just wrote a story from beginning to end and then he stopped you. And my story got picked for him to read to the class. So I was so excited. And it was a drama.
It was actually a tragedy. If you've ever been to Oxford, Mississippi, the roads are very narrow. And there's cars that are parked all along the side in our little town off of the square. And so I would see people riding their bikes sometimes. And I always would think in my mind, what if somebody in a car opens their door and the biker goes right just at the nick of time and flips over?
I don't know. I'm just one of those people I kind of catastrophize and I would always see in my mind that happening. I would just be so nervous, like, oh, bikers, watch out for cars. So I wrote that in my story. There's a guy riding a bicycle and some man opens his car door and the biker flips.
It was terrible. I mean, I was like, oh, my gosh, he is going to love it. He's reading this. You know, everybody's going to think this story is me crying in the room or whatever. So he starts reading the story. He starts cracking up reading the story.
I guess because it sounded so nuts that that would actually happen, because most normal people probably don't go around thinking of worst case scenarios all the time like I do. So he has to take his glasses off. He's wiping the tears off of his eyes. And I was going, oh, my goodness, this is supposed to be so sad and everybody crying.
Well, he's crying, all right, but not the kind of crying that I thought he was going to be crying. And so I decided to go with it like, yeah, this is funny. Then I ended up using that degree to become a school teacher, elementary school teacher. So I became an actress in a different way with kindergarten students because every day was a show. You might be a clown. You might be Mary Poppins.
You might be a book character from one of the books they read. I had to sing a lot. It was a lot of changing outfits and putting on a show. And it was actually a lot of acting. So I didn't necessarily become well, actually, I didn't become a movie star.
I wanted to be all serious. And I just imagine these dramatic movie scenes and I guess what I should have been all along with myself and not someone else. So the way that my life went and all the little twists and turns that I took, God really had it all worked out for me, because I got to see that summer in California how much I missed the south, how much I missed cornbread and sweet tea and being barefooted.
And then once I met this guy that I was starting to fall in love with, who's now my husband, God just changed inside my desires, inside my heart to be a mom and have a family. And I'm so happy the way that it actually turned out. And we're so happy it actually turned out well, too, for Donna Martin. That segment was produced by her daughter, our own Madison, who did a terrific job on the production. And what a voice you just heard. And anyone in Oxford who knows Donna knows what a storyteller she is.
The clock will start and an hour will pass and it'll be the most delightful hour you ever listen to. And my goodness, what a story she told. As Tom Waits said, I never saw the East Coast till I moved to the West. And in a way, Madison's mom had to discover Mississippi by leaving it. A story of dreams not shattered, but reinvented. The story of Donna Martin here on Our American Stories.
Whisper: medium.en / 2023-02-16 17:49:53 / 2023-02-16 18:07:59 / 18
