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Raising Awareness: Screening of movie whose main character has sickle-cell anemia has deep Winston-Salem roots
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Published: July 5, 2009
Narvis hasn't lived life to the fullest, and little time is left to her to make up for that.
She is terminally ill with a severe case of sickle-cell anemia -- and about to leave behind both a toddler son and a husband who hasn't been the most responsible of parents.
What Narvis, played by Jeryl Prescott Sales, does in light of this forms the premise of The Life I Meant to Live, a film made by Leander Sales, Jeryl's husband.
Most of Life features many Winston-Salem actors and scenes set in several well-known areas of Winston-Salem, including the Downtown Arts District and Happy Hill Gardens. The film will be screened Friday in Dillard Auditorium at Winston-Salem State University and Saturday at Shiloh Baptist Church, 916 E. 12th St..
Life has several aims, with a principal one being to raise awareness of sickle-cell anemia.
"A lot of people just don't hear a lot about it," Leander Sales said.
Sales, 45, grew up in Winston-Salem and spent much of his adulthood here before moving with Jeryl to Los Angeles in 2007.
He knows quite a bit about sickle-cell anemia, having lost a childhood friend to the disease. But it took him some time to fully appreciate how it affects people.
"I didn't know until (my friend) passed away that people die from sickle cell anemia," he said. "I was shocked. That shock never left me."
And he added, "People (with the disease) are always in pain."
Jeryl Sales, 43 and a mother of two young boys, taught literature at Wake Forest University and other area schools while doing shows with N.C. Black Repertory Co. Encouraged by her husband, she left teaching to become a full-time actress working primarily in film and television (for example, in Hawthorn on TNT).
In Life, Jeryl Sales said, Narvis "comes to some realizations when she finally faces the fact that her life is going to end abruptly."
This results in her making recordings of her voice "to leave a lasting impression of herself with her son." The son, named Coleman in the film, is played by Coleman Sales, 5, one the Sales' two sons. Jordan, 3, is the other.
Narvis' epiphany also results in preparing her husband to be a more responsible father.
Narvis ends up in Florence, Italy, where Leander Sales also lived for a couple of years, enjoying the food, making friends and learning Italian, which he still speaks on occasion.
"She likes food," Leander said. "She's never traveled. She wanted her son to be proud of her courage."
■ The Life I Meant to Live will be screened at 6 p.m. Friday in Dillard Auditorium of the Anderson Center at Winston-Salem State University, as part of the Happy Hill Gardens reunion. Admission is free; for more information, call Dara Silver at 750-2917. Life will also be screened at 6 p.m. Saturday at Shiloh Baptist Church, 916 E. 12th St., at Highland Avenue. Admission is $10, with proceeds to benefit the Sickle Cell Research Foundation; call Arnice Wall at 577-6123.
A trailer of Life can be seen at www.youtube.com/watch?v=WCxkg6G8grE>. To order DVDs of Life e-mail Sales at lsales1755@aol.com.
■ Ken Keuffel can be reached at 727-7337 or at kkeuffel@wsjournal.com.
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