Mighty Strength in a Minnie Package

I see the people I work with step up and hold it together in the face of very trying times often. But this week was amazing in that it happened three times in one day.

First, I'll start with a lady who inspires me every day by her strength and faith in general. But lately she has been going through a very difficult time with some major life changes. And not of her own choosing. Yet she chooses to come to work and greet our Guests with a smile and help make their day a little better all the time. And those who work with her love her and go out of their way to support her and give her as much support as they can. Working together as a family and pulling together to help. 

This moves me to the next story. A great lady I work with that cares so deeply about those around her and tries hard to make sure everyone is doing ok. As she was talking with one of our younger cast members this day she could see that something was up with her. Rather than move on with her review and ignore the emotions she knew were under the surface, she stopped and took the time to just talk with this girl and reach out to her to help her. Sometimes LIFE is more important than our jobs. And yet another example of how we are family. 

The final story is about a young Minnie looking forward to the end of  her day and a visit from her family. She was so excited and she asked me to take extra photos so that she would have the memories. However, about fifteen minutes before we were done and they were due to come in we heard a loud thump out in the line (Minnie is in a private room). The attendant looked out and learned that the sound was a woman passing out in line. And that woman turned out to be part of the family of Miss Minnie. Now just imagine one of your family members passing out and waiting for the paramedics coming. Would you be able to continue to work? Would you be able to hold it together for the remaining families in line? I'm not sure I could. But she sure did! She was amazing! And she was able to see her family and I was able to get some great photos for her , which were well deserved!

Life Lately

It's been a while since I posted. Things have been a little busy and stressful and it's tough to sit and write how I'm feeling. I'm finding it more difficult to keep life out of work and just enjoy the fun. But thankfully I have some fantastic fellow cast members that take my mind off of things. It's nice to go in and hear that I've been requested at Pixar Place. Or to be able to share a hug with people I haven't seen in a while and get exciting news from them. Last Friday I got a nice surprise to train 3 new trainers on how to shoot JTA. They are great guys and it was a lot of fun hanging out with them. And of course they did a great job! 
And then on Monday I got to see three ladies that I hardly ever see because they aren't shooting in our park anymore but they are so much fun and so awesome! And they were so cute in their Ewok hats. I love how we are like a family and we stay on touch and connected even if we go to separate parks and wander a bit from home. 
Thank you to all of you for helping me through my day!

Family - What Does it Really Mean?

I see families come through work every day. Big ones and small ones. Happy ones and grumpy ones. And I ponder just what it means to be part of a family. I mean, I know what it means to have a biological family. The one you are born into and are related to and all of that. But there are those that you become so familiar with and so close to that they become closer than friends. They become your family.
 I have had a few that I have grown up with and have gotten me through some rough times. And they know more about me than almost anyone. And stick by me and support me no matter what!!!!
 I work with a group of people who live in the magic of Disney every day. Who enjoy the comfort and familiarity of of Disney and the comfort of the stories and the characters. These people have become family to me as well. They can see my mood and tell when I need a hug. They joke with me and know how to make me smile. 
These past few weeks have been pretty challenging for me in several different respects. And usually going to work helps to take my mind off of my troubles. But it has taken some pretty strong doses of pixie dust and pretty broad shoulders to lean on to get me through this. I am so thankful for my family, my whole family, for sticking with me and giving me the strength to get through all of this!!!

A Day Made For Little Boys!

Today was a day made for little boys. They were every where, running and jumping and bouncing all over the place! Full of excitement and amazement as they met some of their favorite movie heroes! It was exciting and exhilarating and exhausting all at the same time. 

But one little boy stood out among the rest. He was so sweet and loving and excited all at once. He loved Buzz and Woody and hugged them and checked them out and touched them to see if they were real. He was autistic and easily distracted but every time I called him "Nathan, smile!" He looked right at me and gave me this huge smile! It was so wonderful to see. Woody and Buzz pulled his parents into the picture as well it was just wonderful how they did that! I love those guys!
 And my day got even better when he came to Cars to see them and I was there too. He would turn around and smile and even wave when I called him there. His parents were so amazing with him. Encouraging and patient and loving yet helping him to move on so that others could have a turn. My heart goes out to these families that struggle not only with children of autism but on top of that Nathan was a Make-A-Wish child which I'm sure was a double whammy for them. 

They made my day with their wonderful attitude and helped me see life through this young man's eyes! Exciting and fresh and full of wonder!

Unexpected Trials

Today seems like a good day for this post. Just as I was heading home I got the news about the bombings at the Boston Marathon. It's such a tragedy and makes one think about how fragile life is. I've been wanting to post about some people I know that are suffering some unexpected trials and today's events shows just how quickly they can happen. 

My friend Sammi has a friend that has been suffering from an unexplained disease for a while now. She had gotten sick and they diagnosed that but further complications are now slowly wracking her body and confounding the doctors. Sammi shared her story with a large group of people and I am sure that they have shared it with many people just as I have. So many people are lifting this young lady up in prayer. I see so many photos of her and she always seems to have a smile on her face. I try to follow her example in being that smiling light for those I encounter during the day because I know people are always struggling with something in life.

Another lady that I have worked with had an accident a while back and is having to learna new way to live life because it has changed her so dramatically. She had started staying home and shutting herself off from people because she now has a handicap which is difficult to overcome. I talked with her the other day and she is slowly learning to move forward and come out of her shell again. She is such an outgoing and fun loving person that I hope she is able to come visit us very soon. She reminds me to try to enjoy every moment of life because you never know when some accident may change things drastically. 

Then there is Jan, a lady I work with, that fell and bruised her face very badly. She is such a sweet lady and she jokes about being clumsy but I know it must hurt like crazy and I'm sure she is a bit embarrassed by the whole incident. This reminds me to cherish those I love because it reminds me of my father in law and his passing. I am so thankful that she is ok. And it reminds me to love those dear to me every single day because they won't be around forever. 

These trials of everyday people remind me to live, love and laugh often because you just don't know what tomorrow holds. 

Inspiration!

Inspiration! I look for it everywhere. Trying to keep life moving forward, keep life exciting and positive! This is not always an easy thing. People and circumstances are out there to drag you down, discourage you and just flat out try to break you. But if you look in the right places you can find that pixie dust out there. I have several people in my life that help do that for me, Cami and Sammi to name just two. Both have had some struggles over the past few years yet are moving forward take life full on and working to keep such positive and great attitudes and it really helps to keep me looking forward.

The past two days I was scheduled as Facilitator. I was so nervous because it was my first time alone with Day 1 and Day 2. Then I found out it was a gentleman that has been with Disney before and held many different positions including manager on duty at Epcot, manager on one of the cruise lines, helped start of Disney World, Disneyland Paris and is now working as manager with all of the costumes for Disney! NO PRESSURE!!! I was to cram 4 days of training into 2 and give him a general feel for what Photopass is all about. He knows John Cole and Rachel Lyons and Dan Cockerell(?) among others. Came up through the company with them. Gah!!! Several departments want him as a manager so he is checking them out to see which he likes best. Great position to be in.

So I decided to try and go through the days as usual except not quite so much detail since he wasn't actually going to be a photographer. We went through the PowerPoints and did a lot of talking. We really clicked. He had left Disney about 9 years ago because his mother got Alzheimer's and then got cancer. So he went home to take care of her. He's been back about a year and trying to get back into the swing of things. His story is so amazing and he is trying to leave it in God's hands as to where he goes from here. To me that was pretty cool. The days flew by and really gave me a push to be excited about what I'm doing. He is quite an inspiration.

Heroes Serving and Surviving!

This week has been pretty stressful for me personally and I went to work feeling sorry for myself and stressing over my problems. Then I get to work and get a few wake up calls that help put things into a different perspective. 

First I was at Cars shooting photos of families and having a decent time. I tend to look at shirts and read buttons and stuff to keep occupied there. The "characters" aren't very interactive with the Guests. I noticed one lady having her husband take a photo of her hand with the car so I got a little closer. She showed me her nails and they were decorated as different characters so she was having a photo taken with each one! I thought this was so cool. Then I noticed their buttons that they were celebrating. Hers said "He's home!" And his said "I'm home". So I took a moment to ask where he was back from. He had been in Afghanistan and had just gotten home. She was so relieved he was back, you could tell. I thanked them both for his service and realized that as rough as my life is, I don't have to worry about my husband being in such a dangerous situation all the time. He has a nice cozy job in an air conditioned office. 

Later in the day I got pulled from Handy Manny to take photos of a Make A Wish family at Jake. It was a large group with a young man in a wheel chair and on oxygen. He wasn't totally aware of what was going on, you could tell but we took our time with him and the family. Jake gave the little girls in the group extra big hugs. Then gave the young man some extra attention. There was a young man in his 20s that wasn't coming in for the photo so Jake went out to help coax him in for the family photo. He finally came in and we got the entire group in for a couple of photos. Yet another group that helped put in perspective that my life really isn't so bad when you come right down to it. 

So at the end of the day I'm thankful for all I have. I love my family and any problems we have we will get through. And I have great friends that help pull me through each day as well and lift my spirits when I need that too.