Savannah could have been a star on "Barney"

Some time ago, we were watching a television special on Taylor Swift and Savannah responded quite noticeably when the talented singer described her up-bringing. "I grew up on a Christmas tree farm in Reading, Pennsylvania," Ms. Swift said, "It was the most magical fun childhood." Savannah has held a vindictive grudge against me since discovering that Selena Gomez was a child actor on Barney and Friends. When Savannah was little, she was entranced by the musical adventures of her prehistoric purple PBS pal. On several VHS videos (remember those?), the show segment would end with a brief actor recruitment commercial and four-year-old Savannah realized that this was her foot in the door to fame and fortune. Having already committed every Barney song to memory,  Savannah began to study each episode to further hone her acting craft. I admit it.  I failed her. It wasn't as though I was lacking in home-movie material. I have oodles of archived occasions featuring Savannah singing the addictive "I love you, you love me, we're a hap-py fam-i-ly, with a great big hug and a kiss to me and you...(blow a kiss to the camera while preparing for the big finish) won't you say you love...me...too? (bum bum)."  Along that same venue, Savannah could have also been the Marineland representative. "Niagara Falls, Ontario...Marineland is the place to go...." Even today, when a Marineland commercial comes on the television, Brad and I can hear the sound of footie-pajama-ed ghost feet as Savannah would race in (even AFTER bedtime) the room to sing along. But I lacked the foresight of Selena Gomez's family. I was short on the sacrificial determination of Taylor Swift's parents. I didn't send in an audition tape and Savannah's dream of dancing with a purple dinosaur was shattered.

Emotionally-scarred for all these years, the possibility of healing arrived ironically.  Johnson & Johnson's Band-Aid brand bandages is looking for their next "Stuck on me" star  https://www.facebook.com/bandaid?sk=app_446166212144556. As my still-traumatized teen sat slumped on the couch, Brad and I immediately began singing the jingle to her. "I am stuck on Band-Aid brand cuz bandaid's stuck on me!" Our bright and shining star, first born from the primordial pits of children's entertainment, then caught in the catastrophic climate change that froze Savannah's fossilized dreams, began to show a flicker of life. But alas...subsequent research revealed that childhood dreams do indeed have a statute of limitations. Apparently, childhood concludes at age fourteen. Savannah, a month-shy of approaching her golden years of twenty, is no longer eligible for child super-stardom. I wince as I consider my role in Savannah's biography. "My childhood wasn't magical at all," she'll share, "If it wasn't bad enough that my shared bedroom was the size of a closet, my mother took every opportunity to burst my bubbles. I coulda been a star."