“All our dreams can come true if we have the courage to pursue them.”  – Walt Disney
 
 
Every hotelier has a specific hotel they worked at that will always hold a special place in their heart. For me, that is Union Station Hotel here in Nashville. I worked there for six and a half years and put a lot of blood, sweat, tears, and love into that property. When the most recent owners decided to renovate, they were getting rid of all the furnishings from the renovation I had gone through. 
 
A friend called and said that they were giving away the chandeliers from the main ballroom. The same chandeliers I watched get hung years ago and admired day in and day out while selling the ballroom to my clients. Of course, I had to have one! So, I rented a U-Haul, showed up at the hotel and loaded that 5-foot cylinder chandelier into the truck, and drove home…only to find out, it did not fit through the front door of my humble house. I placed it on my porch until I could figure out what to do with it. 
 
Immediately I called my parents, excited to show them my latest score, to which my dad said “Mel, what the heck are you going to do with it?!?” without a beat.  In a very matter-of-fact manner, I said: “Well I’m going to store it until I can build a house it will fit in.” See, it has been my dream for some time now to build my own home large enough to accommodate my future family with additional space to continue fostering children. I have all the plans already created and this chandelier will look perfect in the living room. Of course, my parents got a good chuckle in. 
 
Well, I moved that beautiful chandelier into a storage unit and currently pay $100 a month to store it. I’ve given myself 6 years… if I don’t have the house of my dreams built (or started 😊) in 6 years, then I will think about selling it. Many people think I’m crazy, my parents think I’m a dreamer, my friends think I’m wasting money… I think I’m investing in my dreams. After all, Cinderella did say, “If you keep on believing, the dream that you wish will come true.” And when I do build this house, I will invite each and every one of you to come to see the chandelier because that is probably the only furnishing, I will have for a while lol! 
 
Personal and/or professional, what are your dreams? What are you doing to make them a reality?  I would love for you to share them with me!  Feel free to email me at mblancheumiami@gmail.com.
 
Who knows, maybe someone in our membership can help you get a little bit closer to achieving that dream!   Shout out to Heather Dameron for giving me the courage to share this story and my dream with you all!