Who did I meet????

Shall we list the people?

It actually began on the flight to Las Vegas!

We met a man named Kelly who is one of the owners of a local bar in town called Money Plays. I was eavesdropping as he told some ladies where to go, what to do as this was their first visit to Las Vegas.

When he was finished talking to them, I decided it was time to "work". I handed him one of my business cards and explained about one of my reasons for our trip to Las Vegas.

He took an interest and in return gave us a card to his bar with a free drink and meal on it. We did end up at his bar, twice. Though we didn't use the "free" pass. When people are good, you have to be good back. 

We went to Money Plays on Friday night. A friend of mine whom I had known online for several years drove down from Arizona to meet! We went to the bar and had a great time laughing and chatting on the corner bar stools. While we chucked it up my husband Shannon spoke to several other patrons. 

Kelly walked in and he looked so surprised to see us. As it turns out the real surprise was that he walked in. Usually he come a couple of weekday mornings. Shannon and I smiled and said this is how it works with us. The galaxy seems to change, to place people in our path without warning to those people.

We met a few other people that night as well. One was a man named Joe. Joe is a Sin City Kid. He was born and raised in Las Vegas and said "I know you've heard the phrase but it is different for us. What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas unless you're from Vegas then everyone knows!" We're going with that Joe! I so hope that everyone knows and we can find my answers soon! Who knows, we may be related!

I met a man who used to set up lights for Waylon Jennings. He told us about a few of the shows and I laughed and told him of Dottye's relations with Waylon.

Again, I never seem to be too surprised at how small the world can get from time to time!

As we were leaving we also met a man named Tyge. He took an interest in why we were there and was as kind as can be. I later read on his blog how he had been in a car accident just a short time before we met, and he was still kind enough to chat with strangers. Check out his site. He calls it a blog but to my eyes it's really more of a magazine full of information and his writing is so clean. Want to know about local Las Vegas AND the going ons? Click here! He took the time today to email me and let me know that he included a bit on why I was there in his blogging. If you want to read that scroll down at the following link. Click here and scroll down to the bottom of the page for his blog on my visit.

So that is how our visit began, with the meeting of a local named Kelly who decided to chat rather then nap on the plane! Kelly told us he is going to take a photo of our business card and scan it in to their juke box. I left cards in the bathroom on our second night out and received and email from another of the patrons. We had the chance to meet up with our friends while we were there and took them to Money Talks on our last night. The bar was having a customer appreciation night with live music and food. It was a great send off!

This was not our whole trip of coarse, but I had to touch on it for one main reason. My search has taught me to have a more open heart. I'm no longer afraid of telling my story to strangers. Cat's out of the bag sort of thing really. It's out, let it play, let it amuse others. I think we get used to people being rude or harsh, rash and irritable. Our visit to Las Vegas reminded both Shannon and myself that when people go back to their true nature they are giving, kind and at times so very funny! We have to allow ourselves to go back to that soft spot inside our hearts in order to help others to unleash their kindness. Let them see that it's worth it by being kind right back. And if someone isn't kind, well give them a smile and move on. There's no reason to be rude, just smile and walk away from the negativity until gravity pulls you towards another happy soul.

Ok. Many of you know that one of my challenges was to get on the local news. And yes, it was a challenge. I had a few stations interested in meeting and by the time we got there it seemed that we lost all interest. It seemed anyway. After a couple of rounds of phone tag and lack of a crew to come meet with us, I finally got the hit. The Fox 5 Vegas crew came out to speak to me on the morning of Friday the 24th. I had hoped that my sister Karen would do the interview with me as I had presented the trip as two woman searching for answers, but she had just arrived at the strip which is about 20 minutes away from Fremont and might not have made it back in time. She declined to come for the interview and so I threw on my Remember Dottye shirt and headed down to the street to wait for the crew with Shannon. I was excited and nervous, as was Shannon. He knew it would go fine but he also knew this was it. This was my number one goal for my search during this trip and it was actually panning out. We had both begun to think that this task would not be accomplished, and so our adrenaline was on overload as we waited for our moment.

The reporter told me to keep my answers as short as possible since they would have to edit the footage to about a minute long. She asked her questions and I answered. I tried not to notice the HUGE camera in my face! Tried! The reporter learned quickly that my brain and my mouth work at one time with out a delay and that many of my thoughts do not have a filter. At one point Mary asked me if I knew anything about the relationship between Dottye and my birth father. I did actually sit a moment and think before blurting out "Well I know that they *explicit* , that's all I really know for sure though!" The look on her face was priceless as I apologized and looked down at my feet. I also forgot at one point that I had had microphone hooked up to my shirt. As we walked out of the Golden Gate I saw the camera man giggle. I looked down at my shirt and let out an aw crap and smiled back. Why? I had just announced to Shannon that I really needed to let out a belch. Note to self, do not down a Dr Pepper right before going on air!

That was Friday morning, the interview. It was that evening that we were hooking up with Tonja and it was just an exciting day full of hope and eagerness. I was sorry that my sister couldn't make the interview but only for a moment. There was not any time to dwell in any sort of negativity. I was so happy to be surrounded by light hearted people for most of my visit.

After our evening out with Tonja she rushed us back to the Golden Nugget. It had not occurred to any of us that my story would air at the beginning of the news! We got to our room at 10:04 and it had already aired! Ack say it ain't so!! The good news? It aired several times that night. Not only was that good in that I got to watch it before heading out to play some more, but it would be seen by more people. Some people like to watch news at different times, my hits should be good. The other good news was the length of the piece. It ran over 2 minutes rather then the one minute we had been waiting for. 

I had over 2 minutes of fame. I reached a new goal. I hope that goal reaches people who knew Dottye or my birth father.

Want to know more? My fingers are tired .....I'll be back!

Missed me on the news? Click here to see the news footage!