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Two
years ago, Sheila Pixley of Edgefield was jobless, in poor health,
and sinking into a deep depression that she couldn't pull herself
out of. Leave it to a soap opera to come to her rescue. "After
I got laid off," Sheila begins, "I was at home a lot so
I began watching the soap called 'One Life To Live,' and during
that time on the show, there was a couple that was getting together:
Marci Walsh and Al Holden." There was something in the way
that Pixley pauses after saying each name that indicate a reverence
usually reserved for deities. It's not clear if she's about to cry
or if she's about to laugh. Or both. "Marci," Sheila continues,
"doesn't fit the mold of your typical soap character. She didn't
have the traditionally beauty, but she had a huge heart and was
just a wonderful person. She helped Al get off drugs. She had weight
issues, and he showed her that she was beautiful..." She was
hooked. "I fell in love with the couple because it was true
love. They had a light about them. They had a true love story. A
true love story with no strings attached, with no ulterior motive."
Then it becomes clear: "That was the kid of love I wanted for
myself," she said. From the plotline of Marci and Al, Sheila
drew an uncommon energy that propelled her out of her self-described
"slump." "Because of them, I was able to get my life
back together," she says, nodding to herself and fingering
a handful of photos of the two soap opera stars, all autographed
in metallic, glittery colors with personalized messages.
Fast-forward several months later - past convoluted plot twist that
result in the death and summery ressurection of Al, who is now named
Michael and is a doctor ("but he's got Al's soul," says
Sheila) - and you find Sheila gainfully employed and on a Greyhound
bus to New York City, never happier and never more excited in all
her life. "Here I am, this small-town girl who has never been
to a big city before, on a sixteen-hour bus ride to see the actress
who plays Marcie in Hairspray on Broadway." That trip, which
Sheila saved money for months to attend, was planned to coincide
with a "One Life to Live" fan party in New York, which
is where the second half of this story begins. "I had been
so inspired by MARCAL {that's how she and other fans refer to the
Marci and Al plotline} that I started writing poetry about them."
Soap-inspired poetry may sound extreme - and it is - but to hear
Sheila talk honestly about it is to ackowledge that, if it was the
right couple, you too could be inspired to pen a poem about them:
after all, not everyone can relate to the dynamics of Romeo and
Juliet. So at the fan party, during the question-and-answer session,
in front of hundreds of fans and "One Life to Live" actors
and crew, Sheila harnessed all of her daring and recited one of
her poems. "It was a poem I had composed called 'The Backpack
Hug,' and it was a tribute to Kathy {Brier, who plays Marci} and
Nathaniel {Marston, who plays Al Holden-cum-Michael McBain}. It
was my way of saying 'thank you' to them for doing what they do,
cause I'm such a huge fan of theirs." The "backpack hug,"
Sheila explains, is their trademark: "Al just had this habit
of wrapping his hands around her from behind and hugging her, like
a backpack." Her "performance" got her a backpack
hug from "Al" -and it made her somewhat of a star among
fans of the show. Her Spiel about traveling sixteen hours on a bus
for a backpack hug was even written up in Soap Opera Digest and
mentioned on a number of online blogs. Her poem gained such attention
that late last year, as longtime "One Life to Live" actress
Robin Strasser (who plays Dorian Lord on the show) was preparing
a benefit CD to raise money for the victims of Hurricane Katrina,
she immediately thought to include Sheila's poem. "each of
the stars from the soap brought their own unique talents to the
CD," explains Sheila. "Some of them sang, some of the
recited Shakespeare."
And Nathanie Marston ("Al" of MARCAL) recited Sheila's
poem. "It's crazy," she says of her new "fame."
"I know it's weird, but this whole experience for me has been
nothing but positive. I've gotten so much out of this." She's
been to New York City three times since her first Greyhound trip,
and she's met fan friends from all over the country. "A lot
of people stereotype soap fans," she says, "but I'm a
professional - I've graduated college and have a job - but I still
enjoy this soap opera. It's like anyone who enjoys any other love
story where two people in love overcome obstacles." She adds,
"people think soap fans live in a fantasy land, but I'm a very
serious person. She says that she's not someone who easily slips
into obsessions, doesn't jump to champion certain causes. This is
the only thing that's ever absorbed so much of her attention. "I
see it as an opportunity to relieve my stress," Sheila says.
"It lets me go somewhere in mind, somewhere where there's love
and beauty. That's the gift they gave me, and that's why I'm devoted
to them and devoted to the show." To purchase a copy of the
One Life Many Voices benefit CD, or to hear an excerpt of Nathaniel
Marston reading Sheila Pixley's poem, visit www.onelifemanyvoices.com.
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