Dear Editor,
At last my dream has come along, and my dreaming days are over. I’ve come a long way from Albouystown to staying at the fabulous and elegant Pegasus Hotel. Growing up, I never ever dreamed of staying here. I couldn’t, because for me, that was the impossible dream. One, I dare not dream of. People like me weren’t welcome here –I was just too poor, and inconsequential. It was and still is a place mainly for the rich and famous, the one percent of the population.
As an American soldier, I’ve visited many fancier buildings than the Pegasus, such as, the President of America’s home, the White House and several of Saddam Hussein’s palaces in Iraq. And yet, even though most of these buildings are much more elegant than Pegasus, none of them meant more to me than Pegasus. Pegasus is my White House. It’s an historical building with lots of childhood memories. Growing up poor and disadvantaged, it was a place that I admired from a long distance away. A place not for the under-classed and underprivileged. A place, which epitomised power and prosperity. A museum for a rare few but admired by a great many.
A place only for the upper-class and privileged. A place where real people with real class and real money went to dine and to be entertained; a place where the wealthy people stayed. A place where politicians, doctors and business people assembled. A place that I could only imagine and speculate who goes there, stayed there and what happened there. A place for my eyes to see only far from the outside; a place to listen to from a distance; a place forbidden to touch or to get close to. But today I am here; this is a present to myself.
It was and still is a place only for the wealthy; and off-limits to the
impoverished. A hidden and top secret place so close and yet so far from a boy from a sometimes violent village. It was so top secret and prestigious that I’ve never put my foot on its hallowed ground before migrating. Its ground was too sacred. For me, it was much easier to visit the White House and several of Saddam Hussein’s palaces than to visit the Pegasus during childhood.
Today, I’m staying here. I’m going to sleep in its beautiful room, wake up in its comfortable bed, eat at its delicious table and swim in its lovely pool. I’m only doing it because I want feel what it’s like coming from Albouystown. I’m doing it to show that sometimes the impossible dreams do come through. I’m also doing it to feel, “I’ve arrived.” I’ve made it out of the ghetto and into the Pegasus, which was one of my longest journeys. I’m doing it to encourage people to never stop dreaming and never be afraid to dream the impossible dream; and to follow wherever it leads. If I can do this, be here, then so many others can walk this walk, too.
Of all the beautiful places that I’ve stayed at or visited, staying at Pegasus is already one of the most memorable and long lasting memories; just being here. I’ll cherish the memories for many, many years to come. As an impoverished child, Pegasus was off limits to me. For me, staying at Pegasus is a milestone, reaching the unreachable star. Because if I can stay here then I can stay anywhere.
Yours faithfully,
Anthony Pantlitz
