It's Never Too Late for a Dream

The Boston Herald

“How did you start? When did you begin? Did you go to school for this?" People constantly ask these questions of public figures, artists, artisans - of anyone whose talent and work they admire. "Where did you learn what you know?”

Often what's in their hearts are other questions: "How can I start? Where can I begin?" But people hesitate to ask these things because they seem too personal, too needy.

"I wish I had studied this. I wish I had learned that." These things are safe to say. But far too often people don't do anything more than wish and dream, because they are terrified of failing. But if you don't try, you can't succeed. If you don't play the game, you can't win. The secret is to take a deep breath, forget public opinion, and just do it - no matter what it is you want to do, no matter how many misgivings you have.

Terri Johnson just did it. The 47-year-old Canton mother of five always wanted to model, but for years she was busy with her children, and they were her priority, not a career. Still, her desire was something she never gave up. And so she did a little modeling over the years, but for charity benefits only. It was an off-hand remark by her twin daughters one afternoon last year that made her dust off her dream. She asked the girls, 17, the standard after-school question: What did you do today?

"The both of them turned to me at the same time and said, `Mom, why do you have to know everything?' Did I have to know everything? Was I living my life through them? That's when I decided it was time for me to have something that was mine, that wasn't related to them or to their brothers. I knew I was getting depressed about their going off to school because I couldn't walk down the baby food aisle of the grocery store without starting to cry. I knew it was time for me to pursue my dream."

It may have been time, but where does a person begin? How does a woman become a professional model in mid-life?

The same way you become a model in early life, Terri says. You get some photos taken. You begin a portfolio. You knock on doors.

"That's what I did. I went to a modeling agency and I said, `You're not going to hurt my feelings. Tell me if there's a market for women my age.' And they told me there was.”

Last January, Terri read about "Oil of Olay's I Look Great for My Age Contest" in the January issue of "Ladies Home Journal." The top 10 winners would get a year's supply of the face lotion plus $1,000. That $1,000 would help defray the cost of her portfolio. "I decided I had nothing to lose. So I entered.”

So did 4,000 other women. In February, Terri was notified that she was one of the final five, a field that included Marla Maples' mother. But she walked off with the grand prize - $5,000, a trip to New York, and a walk-on role in the soap opera "As the World Turns" scheduled to air next Wednesday.

Terri's still not where she hopes to be someday. She's still talking to modeling agencies.

"I think what's most important is that I've shown my children that it's possible to raise a family and then go on from there. I'd like to get some work so I can help the girls through college. But modeling is something I've always wanted to do. I'm fulfilling a dream right now. And if all I have is all I ever get, it'll be enough because at least I can say I tried."