my claim to fame

When people begin to share their "claims to fame" I never have anything to say.  I had never met anyone famous UNTIL, Saturday.  We had a garage sale Saturday morning and decided to use the spoils to go to dinner somewhere fun.  We drove down to Galveston and went to Gaidos, a famous seafood restaurant down there.  We were waiting outside for our names to be called and I looked up to see these 2 very tall women coming from behind us walking together towards the door.  Just then they called our name and as I stood up one of those women turned slightly at the door and I thought she looked familiar.  I looked again and leaned over to Melanie and said, "Hey that lady looks like Juliet from Lost".....the whole time thinking of course it wasn't her.  It is easy to see someone who looks like someone, but rare to see the actual person.  We got inside and she was standing with this large group of family.  I got my first good look and I knew immediately that there was no way it was not her.  Then a lady in her party said, "What name is it under?" and another one replied, "Mitchell."  Her real name is Elizabeth Mitchell.  I excitedly turned to Melanie to say it was her for sure.  Then I remembered that her family is from Dallas and that she grew up there.  We stood there awestruck at what we were seeing.  We are both avid Lost fans and to see one of the stars in real life was a strange experience.  She was with her mom, dad, sister and a host of other family members.  They went in the small gift shop and we followed her in and hovered around debating on whether to talk to her.  We had ample opportunity, but we never did.  Although, she dropped her sweater and Melanie picked it up for her and she said, "What a kind thing of you to do."  I told Melanie she missed her perfect opportunity.

She is not a super famous or well known actress, so nobody was swarming her or taking her picture.  The little girl working in the gift shop had no idea she had just checked-out someone famous.   Most people would only know her if they watched Lost, or maybe if they had seen the Santa Claus 2, she plays the Mrs. Claus part.  It was so bizzare.  The whole night we couldn't stop thinking about that....someone famous we have watched a ton in a small restaurant in Galveston, Texas of all places.  And it is odd to be in the same room with the person, watching them.  You are so use to seeing them on a screen or in a book, not in person.  I think they do not seem real, and then there they are.  And now I have a claim to fame, so when it is my turn to tell if I have met someone famous I can say yes...although when you hear other people tell you things like that, I never think it is all that exciting.  Maybe it is only exciting if it happens to you.