Lydia Earhart

Is it too late to request a fairy godmother?

I often wonder what mine would be like, if I had the gift of one. I imagine her with short, light brown hair, soft hands and wrinkles from smiling.

She would speak softly and sweet but peer over her glasses when I asked for something a little unreasonable. Wouldn’t you test her to see how far she would go?

Just like in “Cinderella,” fairy godmothers come to us in our time of need or when we least expect it. She might not arrive in a circle of sparkles or with a wand, but she may help us achieve what may seem impossible.

I was thinking this when my battery light turned on in my car one night after a photo shoot. Surely my fairy godmother wouldn’t leave me stranded. She would arrive in a pretty poof, replace my battery and put me in a fabulous dress – just like the ones in this StyleWatch. See Page 32.

Around the Thanksgiving table, I would thank her first for always being there for me and gracing me with the help I needed.

There are fairy godmothers are all around us. They might not be able to turn a pumpkin into a carriage, but they will be there to turn your sour day into a better one.

For the November feature story, we asked some members of the community to start a “thanking chain” in which it would start with one person and that person would choose another to thank and so on.

We started with 9-year-old Jaleia Latson, a student at the Renzi Education and Arts Center. This nonprofit provides free, after-school academic and art classes and summer camp to K-12 youth in the Shreveport-Bossier City area.

It was fitting that Latson would thank Executive Director Christy Kirkley for her compassion for the Renzi students.

Find out who Kirkley thanked on Page 26.

With this thanking chain created, it is my hope that a good bit of the community would feel thanked and continue this outside of the story in this issue.

Also this month, Dianne Glasgow shows us how to make gratitude a way of everyday life. Read Page 14. No matter how you celebrate Thanksgiving, make sure you spread joy and show appreciation for anyone you are thankful for this month. Personally, I appreciate the CityLife staff and all they commit to. Each of them make this publication worth a read. And also, a thank you to this close-knit community, always willing to share what links us all together with a simple wish of good thanks. you make my job easier by sharing your stories and thoughts. Thank you!