Celebrity Sighting!

One of the duties in my job description is "Personal Appearances". It can be everything from hosting a fashion show to MCing a charity auction. It generally involves the station at some level of sponsorship. I host a lot of movie premieres and charity walks and other fundraisers. For several years now our station, Kool FM, has sponsored the JDRF, MS, Ovarian Cancer, and ALS Walks and I've been the regular host or MC for those years. This year is no different, though my involvement will be dependent on the outcome of my surgery at the end of the month. Tonight I was kindly invited to attend the ALS Kickoff to the Walk despite the fact I'm not a team captain. I was so excited because the ALS of Nova Scotia had invited Wendy Crewson to attend as well as make a few appearances. She is a Canadian actress of film and TV. In fact, on almost any night of the week you can find a movie with her in it. She played Harrison Ford's wife in Air Force One, Mrs. Claus in the Santa Claus movies and she starred in a movie called The Sue Rodriguez Story, a true tale of one Canadian woman's struggle to end her own life after having been diagnosed with ALS. I spoke with her briefly this morning at the station and then saw her again tonight . Wendy is absolutely gorgeous, but she is even more stunning in person .I blathered on like an idiot, thanking her for her involvement with the ALS, and how every dollar raised for research for ALS helps those of us with MS, too. And then I blathered on some more about God knows what and my blog (do I ever shut up?) and then she asked me for the blog address. I have met and interviewed a few celebrities in my day, but I'm still as star struck as everyone else. She was a living doll and I suspect that if she got out of the entertainment industry she could make a living as a therapist because she definitely has a great listening ability.

Her husband is also an actor, Michael Murphy, who was in a quirky, short lived but really great TV show called This is Wonderland. It was an excellent show that gave a very real look at the Canadian judicial system. And Michael was in about a gazillion other movies. He has one of those faces you recognize immediately. I like him a lot, too.

The pic above is from the movie Silver City with Richard Dreyfuss.

As I mentioned to Wendy, research into ALS will benefit those of us with MS, epilepsy, schizophrenia, and any of dozens of other neuro type diseases. I was telling her about the US Army looking for research into CAMs to help treat all the TBI and PTSD cases coming back from Iraq. One thing Wendy mentioned to me was how the appearance of Mad Cow disease really pushed the Canadian government into throwing some money at research. In both cases, the gov'ts are willing to spend money to save themselves in some way or another, either by saving money in treatment or to keep an industry alive and well.

Mad Cow, or the human variant, CJD, PTSD, TBI, ALS, MS, whatever alphabetic combination you like, it doesn't matter. As long as we can share what we learn and come up with something, I'll be happy. And I look forward to the day when my services as an MC are no longer needed because we have found cures.

S.