Reaching Out to the Stars Read Online Free PDF Page B

silver angel fish named Jack and Rose. I’ll give you one guess as to who went belly up first.
    I really have not had an idol since junior high school and wondered if it was even normal or healthy to have one at age twenty-eight. At first I kept my feelings very quiet because I was afraid that everyone would think I was crazy. I am definitely a kid at heart and feel that you are never too old for anything. After all, life would be pretty boring if we didn’t have that inner child.
    Maria, my best friend, was someone I felt I could talk to about anything. We met in college and lived across the hall from each other in our senior year. We always had a lot in common besides the fact that we were the same height, wore the same size and we were both blonde. We had our ups and our downs, but we always had each other’s back. We had lost a few years between college graduation and marriage, along with the birth of her first child, due to a falling out. I always regretted letting anything come in between the friendship and I wrote her a letter apologizing. As we started to get together again, things soon got back to where they were. We enjoyed karaoke, never in a public place, and loved reminiscing about the college days when pouring as much salt as we could on the others food without getting caught until the other took a bite was hysterical.
    I started to confide in Maria about the secret love affair that was going on only inside my mind revolving around a celebrity obsession. She was the one who convinced me that I was not crazy.
    Although it has taken me years, I feel as if I can talk about my ongoing experience as a fan, including some of the crazy thoughts and feelings that led me to do some crazy things.
    It all started in January of 2003 when I found myself getting lost in the reality show, American Idol. I never watched season one but I was a fan of the winner, Kelly Clarkson. I always heard people talking about season one, especially Maria.
    As I have always had a passion for singing, I thought I would tune in to season two of American Idol. I watched the show week after week and grew from liking it to loving it, and then to loving him.
    From the first time I laid eyes on him, I was intrigued. As I liked many of the top twelve contestants, for some reason I was really drawn to him. I looked forward to his particular performance every week and found myself getting excited when it was his turn to perform. My strong liking grew into what I would consider a small crush.
    I had assumed the role of junior high guidance counselor at a small school in Massachusetts for four years. Previously, I had worked with special education students for two years. Knowing that my idol had a similar experience in the work field before he rose to stardom, I felt that we automatically shared something in common.
    I had built a lot of great relationships with most of my students and a few selective co-workers. Therefore, it was not unusual for me to come into work in the morning and have a picture of my obsession on my office door or the most recent People magazine sitting on my desk.
    I even had one student come into my office after a doctor’s appointment and hand me a picture that she had torn out of one of the magazines in the waiting area at the doctor’s office. After I told her that I had appreciated that she was thinking of me and that I knew she meant well, I had to explain to her why it was wrong for her to tear the picture out of a magazine that was not hers. After she left my office, I smiled and laughed to myself.
    Although some people despise the junior high age, the middle school student, in my opinion, is the best. This is because they are always making me laugh even when they are not trying to be funny.
    As I sat back down at my desk, I felt that I was being watched from every direction with all of the pictures collected from students. As a guidance counselor, it was my main priority to be there for the kids but in a lot of ways,