Steel Magnolias

My family's only claim to fame (besides my dad being an EMT on the set of The Man in the Moon and meeting Reese Witherspoon when she was 14) is the movie Steel Magnolias.

And my family takes this fame seriously. We all have a copy (or 2) of this southern classic and inform newcomers of it's greatness. New baby members of the clan are taught that "Steel Magnolias" are to be their first words and upon baptism later in life, they are given their very own copy. Thus continuing our legacy.

I took this photo fall 2009

So what fame are we claiming? See Truvy's Beauty Shop above? Well, to us (I include myself in 'us' even though I wasn't due for another year), that is just the "old house on the corner of Henry and East 5th."

As in, we lived there. While watching the movie, my brothers will say things like, "remember how bad that door would creak," and my mom would gush over the front porch.

(The house has a bad reputation now because the owner after us, Phillip DeSelle, murdered a little girl in it when she came knocking on his door to sell candy. Google that for more information.)

And the hospital Shelby was in? Natchitoches Parish Hospital, where my mom worked as a nurse. She helped Julia Roberts dress for the scene. Holy guac, Julia Roberts.

As if ALL of this isn't reason enough to start handing out autographs, we have home videos of them filming the movie. Embarrassingly, of my grandma yelling at Dolly Parton to "smile at the camera, Dolly!"

I told you, we take this fame seriously.

No pictures, please.