natina
08-23-2012, 02:44 AM
Gabby Douglas coping with demands
WEST DES MOINES, Iowa
All America’s Sweetheart wanted was a couple scoops of ice cream.
It was nearing midnight in London when Gabby Douglas’ family picked the 16-year-old up from the Olympic Village. They were taking Gabby on her first night away from the village since she became the first American gymnast to win both team and all-around gold. Her older siblings had told her about a wondrous place at a hospitality house for athletes and their families, an ice cream bar with the best ice cream in the world, with every topping you could imagine, even with an ice cream made of real honeycomb.
Gabby figured she could sneak in and sneak out. After all, it was the middle of the night. But the moment the newly minted celebrity walked in, she was swarmed: “It’s Gabby!” Business executives surrounded her. They took pictures and asked for autographs. The clock passed midnight. Gabby smiled for every picture, signed every autograph, but at one point her mother, Natalie Hawkins, saw a hint of sadness in that smile. It had been nearly a half-hour, and the girl still hadn’t gotten her ice cream.
This was the moment America’s Sweetheart learned about the trade-off of celebrity.
Celebrity is, of course, an amazing thing. They escort you to the VIP shopping area at the Louis Vuitton store on Beverly Hills’ Rodeo Drive, which happened to Gabby in Los Angeles when she appeared on “The Tonight Show with Jay Leno.” The First Lady rearranges her schedule because she wants to meet you. Lolo Jones promises to get Usain Bolt to follow you on Twitter. Oprah Winfrey flies to Iowa for an interview at the family’s house where you stayed for two years, training for the Olympics.
But the other side of celebrity is that, sometimes, you just want some ice cream.
“I just wanna go get some ice cream, and people crowd around me, and I can’t get my ice cream!” the always bubbly Gabby told FOXSports.com the other day. She was sitting with her mother in one of those anonymous plaster-block hotels in a suburb outside Des Moines.
http://msn.foxsports.com/olympics/gymnastics/story/gabby-douglas-coping-with-demands-of-fame-082212
Gabby Douglas - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gabby_Douglas)
http://www.radaronline.com/exclusives/2012/08/howard-stern-gabby-douglas-americas-got-talent-video-howie-mandel-sharon-osbourne
http://www.j-14.com/Olympic-gymnast-%20Gabrielle-Douglas.jpg
WEST DES MOINES, Iowa
All America’s Sweetheart wanted was a couple scoops of ice cream.
It was nearing midnight in London when Gabby Douglas’ family picked the 16-year-old up from the Olympic Village. They were taking Gabby on her first night away from the village since she became the first American gymnast to win both team and all-around gold. Her older siblings had told her about a wondrous place at a hospitality house for athletes and their families, an ice cream bar with the best ice cream in the world, with every topping you could imagine, even with an ice cream made of real honeycomb.
Gabby figured she could sneak in and sneak out. After all, it was the middle of the night. But the moment the newly minted celebrity walked in, she was swarmed: “It’s Gabby!” Business executives surrounded her. They took pictures and asked for autographs. The clock passed midnight. Gabby smiled for every picture, signed every autograph, but at one point her mother, Natalie Hawkins, saw a hint of sadness in that smile. It had been nearly a half-hour, and the girl still hadn’t gotten her ice cream.
This was the moment America’s Sweetheart learned about the trade-off of celebrity.
Celebrity is, of course, an amazing thing. They escort you to the VIP shopping area at the Louis Vuitton store on Beverly Hills’ Rodeo Drive, which happened to Gabby in Los Angeles when she appeared on “The Tonight Show with Jay Leno.” The First Lady rearranges her schedule because she wants to meet you. Lolo Jones promises to get Usain Bolt to follow you on Twitter. Oprah Winfrey flies to Iowa for an interview at the family’s house where you stayed for two years, training for the Olympics.
But the other side of celebrity is that, sometimes, you just want some ice cream.
“I just wanna go get some ice cream, and people crowd around me, and I can’t get my ice cream!” the always bubbly Gabby told FOXSports.com the other day. She was sitting with her mother in one of those anonymous plaster-block hotels in a suburb outside Des Moines.
http://msn.foxsports.com/olympics/gymnastics/story/gabby-douglas-coping-with-demands-of-fame-082212
Gabby Douglas - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gabby_Douglas)
http://www.radaronline.com/exclusives/2012/08/howard-stern-gabby-douglas-americas-got-talent-video-howie-mandel-sharon-osbourne
http://www.j-14.com/Olympic-gymnast-%20Gabrielle-Douglas.jpg