Wednesday, 01/11/06

This woman dares to dream

By Lana Osborne

This vibrant new friend of mine told me that as a child she and her grandma stayed up until the wee hours reading and pasting letters from pen pals into scrapbooks. They had pen pals from all over the world and those pen pals became a part of their lives. Theresa Lott was able to travel the world through her pen pals and learned that she had a destiny of choice.

This is how she learned that she could be and do whatever she wanted to do as long as she had the faith and dared to dream. She told me that she came to the decision that all things are possible to those who love the Lord.

“Choices became the primary reason of my lifestyle. I have made good ones and I have made bad ones, all were an experience of learning. When I make good choices, miracles seem to happen. Needless to say, I ask for wisdom in so doing.”

Theresa Lott, who is so full of life, so much fun, full of laughter told me when I first met her that she met her husband, Olen, on the internet. She says, “I am tremendously blessed by this…it is scary for me to think one click of the “delete” key and my whole life would have been changed.”

Lott was born in Nashville. Her parents owned a furniture and appliance store, Greene Furniture Company, on Dickerson Road, and it taught her to meet the public. She said, “Mother and Dad were blessed and active as Christian people. I conceived the principles of good rearing. I still believe in ‘One Nation Under God Indivisible With Liberty and Justice for all’ and ‘In God We Trust.’

After 26 years as a realtor and broker, in Tennessee and California, I have learned all people deserve a chance until proven guilty, however, not if they are going to abuse our generosity by killing and destroying what we love the most. The twin towers were like the tree of knowledge and traded with the world but what they received in exchange was a counterfeit trade … we must never let that happen again.”

This jewel of a lady, who doesn’t mind speaking her mind, is owner and operator of Express U R Way Boutique which is located on Highway 76 in White House. Her husband operates the other side of the business which is an authorized UPS, Fed Ex and DHL/Airborne shipping company.

Lott’s boutique carries embellished suits, mother of the bride clothing, prom dresses, wedding dresses, designer hats, women’s suites, regular and plus sizes, designer women’s suits, red hat clothing, career way, party dresses and purses, jewelry, just all sort of goodies.

Lott is also a Church of God Chaplain. She was named “Business Woman of the Year for 2004” for the State of Tennessee, which was awarded by the NRCC. She accepted this award March 2005 in Washington, D.C.

She has received the “Publisher’s Editor’s Choice Awards for Poetry,” a nominee for the “Notary of the Year” as well as “Outstanding Older Worker” for the State of Tennessee, and she is listed in the “Who’s Who National and Global Registry in the Library of Congress, a member of the National Speaker’s Association and Gospel Concert Producer.

She is also author of “Apple of My Eye,” which may be purchased through Amazon.com. Her pen name is Theresa Greene Oldham.

Some of you may remember the television show, “Queen for a Day” with Jack Bailey and Jean Cagney. She was the queen on an episode and won many rewards from that show. She won it by giving a little ditty that went something like this, “If I had three wishes, I’ll tell you what they’d be, a crash helmet, two pair of braces and a trip to Tennessee.” At the time her son had a head injury from running out in front of a car; and both sons needed braces for their legs.

She was stage mother while her children became members of the Screen Actors Guild and made many commercials, such as “Kellogg Cereal” with Tony the Tiger, Mattel Toys, McDonald’s and she says her son is 39 years old and can still recite his lines from the commercials he was in.

She and her husband have nine children between them. The children are spread from California, Ohio, Maryland, Connecticut and Tennessee. All but two were able to attend their wedding two years ago.

What impresses me the most about this gutsy little lady, is that she does dare to dream and continues to do so. She lives with a positive attitude and always in a prayerful attitude. She says, “Negative thoughts are not a part of my profile.”

I thank Paula Carr, longtime friend, for introducing us, and for more information about Theresa Lott you may go to her website, www.expressurway. com.

Her poems may be viewed at http://poetry.com/.

If you know someone who lives an outstanding life, please e-mail me.