Lisa Winnett

Special Occasion Speech

Dorothy Gale

Some times the storms in our lives are what take us
on our greatest adventures. Spinning us into a world we
never knew existed. Challenging us even at a very young
age. This is the case for Dorothy Gale. As a young child
she was tossed around in the tragic storm as an orphan.
Only to land in the very desolate praise of Kansas. Life in
Kansas seem very gray and colorless for her simple farm
life with her Uncle Henry and Aunt Em. Yet Dorothy did not
let this isolated, drab, dingy, and dusty world hold her
down. She would nd happiness in the simple life she
lived there. Along with her closest companion her little dog
named Toto.
Yet the wild windstorms of life blew on Dorothys door
yet again when she was just 11. That summer a terrible
tornado transformed Dorothy and her little dog Toto to a
magical land. She set off in a new direction, a pathway
down the yellow brick road. She changes the lives of those
she comes in contact with by seeing the strengths in
others that they could not see them in themselves. Her
new traveling friends, the Scarecrow, Tin Woodman, and
Cowardly Lion found the greatest friendship in this young
girl from Kansas. Dorothy found the good in everything,
and continues today to believe in herself and in those
around her. She was the loyalest of friends and showed in
the end that not only her friends but she also was smart,
loving and brave.
Storms might have been what sent Dorothy on
pathway in those ruby red shoes, but it was her warmth
that took us on the epic adventure to the Emerald City.
Along this new colorful path Dorothy found her own Brain,
Heart, and Courage. Brains to prepare for her new
adventure ahead, Heart to hold on to her dreams, and the
courage to follow after those dreams. No matter where the
storms in life take us, Dorothy taught us there is no place
like home.
We are here today to honor Dorothy Gale, loved by
millions throughout the world for the last 75 years, for her
simple heroism. For she has taught us all that we too in a
beautiful pair of red shoes can follow our own dreams on a
magical journey over the rainbow and down the yellow
brick road.