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My life reads like a fairy tale come true..............
After graduating from Northside I had no desire to attend college. I'm A.D.D. and back in those days no one knew or did anything about it so instead of going off somewhere to study books, I took off for a life of adventure of the unknown. Took an aptitude test at Massey and was told I scored as a mechanical genius. Enrolled in IBM automation and became one of the first women to ever program IBM Tab Processors.
I worked at Ft. McPerson and the Atl Journal/Constitution and other than amazed at the first computers, was bored to death.
Went to Rich's and worked my way up into managing a bunch of departments for them at Lenox Square. Got bored at that and decided to move to New York City where I worked in the garment industry as a buyer for two Madison Avenue Boutiques and in Seventh Avenue wholesale showrooms.
It was in NYC where I met my first husband Al while walking my dog. He lived across the street and we married, moved to Brooklyn and started renovating old brownstones together. After surviving three renovations we decided to move to Wash, D.C. for two years where we had our
Daughter, Alyson. We returned to live in Atlanta and since he was a professional photographer, we opened up a photography studio. Every time we needed a child for a photo, we would use Alyson. I had become a professional children's photographer by then, always practicing my skill on Alyson so she became very relaxed and used to being in front of a camera. Then one day......just out of the blue, I decided since she enjoyed it so much, I would see if I could get her an agent. Agents and clients loved her because she was so at ease in front of a camera and took direction well.
Little did I realize this was the beginning of my daughter's journey to fame and fortune.
I divorced Alyson's dad when she was two and ran my own personnel service for eleven years.
That allowed me to have the freedom to take my daughter to auditions and jobs she kept getting.
Back then children were being paid $40.00 per hour for print photography. That sounded great but she kept working and everytime she got work, I had to take off from my business to stay with her while she worked. I then decided to raise her to $60.00 an hour thinking that would slow her jobs down and allow me more time for my work.
When that did not slow her offers down I decided in stead of letting her just quit all together, I raised her fee to $130.00 per hour. Agents were furious with me but she continued to work at that rate constantly.
Then one Xmas I sent her to visit her dad in California for the holiday and asked him if he would take her to see some Hollywood agents if I could arrange interviews. He said yes and I did.
Don't know why I did because I had no intention of moving there but just curious to see how they would respond. Take note: neither Alyson or I ever really took the business seriously. It was just alot of fun and allowed us to spend alot of special time together. She still did all the other things kids did growing up.
Hollywood agents loved Alyson and she got offers for representation from all three top agents she met. (It is not easy to get an agent out there to represent you.) Well, when they got so excited over her I realized if we didn't try it we would always wonder what could have been. So, I hired someone to run my business for me, sold our house and moved to LA. The rest of the story is of public record. Her first break came at the ripe old age of 11 when she co starred in "My Stepmother Is An Alien" with Dan Akyrod and Kim Bassinger. Then her real big break was filming "Buffy The Vampire Slayer" which ran on TV for 7 years. Then she filmed the "American Pie" trilogy and that is when it became apparent to me she had acheived stardom in Hollywood. Delta refused to let her enter Hartsfield Airport for fear she would cause a mob scene. They wisk her off the plane and out a special exit onto the runway with a waiting limo and I had to meet her at the curb. When it was time to leave, we had to call security to meet us at the curb and they take her in a limo directly to the plane
She is presently filming the fifth year on the CBS hit show "How I Met Your Mother" which airs Mondays at 8:00pm.
She has won the "2010 PEOPLE'S CHOICE AWARD"
for Best Comedy TV Actress in Hollywood. I still can't believe she beat Tina Fey, America Ferrera, Eva Longoria Parker and Amy Poehler who are major players in the industry.
I'm so proud of her accomplishments but the thing I am most proud of is she has not let fame and fortune get to her the way most Hollywood celebrities have. She is still the same good kid I raised and has not let all of this go to her head.
This long explanation is so I can avoid having to do so at the reunion. Last time I had so many people interested in how she got started, I had little time to find out about others and their families.
So, if that is not interesting enough.....wait til I tell you how I found my husband.....or I should really say how he found me.
I was single for 32 years and had completely given up all hope of finding my Mr. Right. Then one day I checked my real estate email and there was an email from Joe Haas (Westminster 1960)
telling me his wife had died and asking me out to dinner. I was shocked as I didn't even know he lived in Atlanta and had not remembered seeing him since we went thru 10 years of Sunday school together. He was the smartest kid in the class and certainly not my type so we weren't friends--just knew who each other was. But, he probably would need to sell his house and buy a condo so I said, "Why not?" Turns out he had started to date and was having no luck finding someone special and then someone suggested he think of someone out of his past and that same night, he
dreamed about me. He woke up, wrote my name down on the note pad next to his bed and the next day he googled me and found me thru my real estate web site. Certainly makes me believe in fate for sure. We've been marred four years and I couldn't be happier with my life. I'm the poster child of hope for all you single women out there. I found my true love when I was 62. Don't give up hope.......it can happen.
I'm still having fun selling real estate all over the world. Thru Prudential's relocation division I have recently helped to sell a condo in Fisher Island, FL, houses in Renton, WA and Ashville,NC. So, if you need help buying or selling anywhere in the world, call me. I'd love to help you out.
I found and sold Marc Hamburger his wonderful house you get to see at the reunion. ( Be sure and check out his new garage.)
