Not until the day after our son’s graduation party did it really hit me. Staring at what was left on the counter to be either stored or returned, I sized up the sparkling, crystal vase that had once belonged to Debbie Reynolds. How had it landed in our humble kitchen in Fargo?
When I told our grown children that their brother’s graduation cake had a special piece infused within—a vase, holding up a second-tier round cake, once owned by the famous actress—they looked at me quizzically. Debbie who?
To be fair, she was more my mother’s era. Each generation lays claim to the people highlighted in their respective time. When my kids mention famous people of today, I rarely recognize their names.
But I did want to fill in this gap for them. The vase was a special addition to our day and seemed worthy at least of a mention. So, how to explain Debbie Reynolds?
Seeking a shortcut, I texted them the article I wrote for The Forum in December featuring the local chef who would later gift our family with our son’s graduation cake; the one guests had raved about. The cover photo showed Chef NarDane (a.k.a. Dennis Narlock) of Grand Forks standing close to a woman he considered his “second mother” from his years in California—Ms. Reynolds.
[Chef and artist who’s befriended both dignitaries and downtrodden says Christmas isn’t just a day]
Dennis Narlock left behind a successful catering business in Hollywood, where he met and befriended stars like Debbie Reynolds, to restore religious art and share the word of God.
But that likely wouldn’t be enough. So I added that the original vase owner was “the mother of Princess Leia.” Surely, our children would grasp the Carrie Fisher connection.
When the first to respond wrote back, in all caps, “NO WAY! THAT’S THE GRANDMA FROM HALLOWEENTOWN!” I had to chuckle. Finally, at long last, the generations gap had been bridged by a 1998 Disney movie. To his credit, even I wasn’t around in 1952 when Reynolds starred in “Singing in the Rain.”
None of this, however, explains fully how her vase ended up in our kitchen in late May. It came through a passing comment by our chef friend as he put the finishing touches on the decadent dessert at our dining-room table that spring morning, mentioning that the vase had been a gift from her. Other than surprising me, it signaled that I’d better make sure the vase was kept safe.
It also reminded me of how small the world is, and how connected we all are. We think sometimes that we are separate, and that the people in our lifetimes who found fame, for whatever reason, are stars in the sense that we could never touch them.
But Dennis, who hails from rural North Dakota, has reminded me, through his own story —a story of redemption, connection, and God’s love for us all—that even those of us who come from hidden places are known very much by our Lord, who has counted all the hairs on our heads (Luke 12:7).
And that someday, if we choose rightly on earth, we will shine brightly, forever, just like the real stars in the sky (Daniel 12:3).
[For the sake of having a repository for my newspaper columns and articles, I reprint them here, with permission, a week after their run date. The preceding ran in The Forum newspaper on June 19, 2023.]
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