Sale features wonderful guest

Remember how much fun it was when you were a child to buy a box of cereal knowing there was an extra treat inside? The cereal was sweet, but that toy or trinket or special little gift inside made it taste all the better.

That’s how it will feel this weekend when Custer’s Spring Antique and Collector’s Sale pulls into the Spokane County Fair and Expo Center.

In addition to the antiques and collectibles and specialty booths offering crystal repair and antique doll repair, promoter Cheryl Custer-Branz is bringing in a special guest.

Zuzu is coming to town.

When Karolyn Grimes was 6 years old, she became a part of American culture when she played Zuzu Bailey in the classic film, “It’s a Wonderful Life.”

Grimes left Hollywood behind, but she never moved away from being Zuzu.

After losing both of her parents while she was still a teen, Grimes studied to become a medical technologist.

She married and had two daughters before divorcing, then her ex-husband was killed in a hunting accident.

Grimes remarried, was stepmother to her new husband’s three children, and had two more of her own.

Tragedy struck again when her youngest child committed suicide at age 18. Then her husband of 25 years succumbed to lung cancer.

Grimes has remarried and lives in the Seattle area. She tours the country with a line of “It’s a Wonderful Life” products and memorabilia.

“I’ve got a new cookbook, books about the movie and my own book, “Zuzu’s Wonderful Life in the Movies,” Grimes says. “And I’ll have DVDs of the movie.”

Grimes is the first to admit her own life hasn’t always been picture perfect, but she has come to believe it’s all part of the plan for her.

“I’ve had a lot of adversity and I’ve had to experience these things to learn compassion and to learn to appreciate the values the film teaches,” Grimes says. “I learned to share with folks in pain because of all I’ve gone through.”

Grimes says she is often overwhelmed by the way people all over the world relate to her through the character she played in the movie.

“It’s sometimes feels like being Zuzu, and being a part of ‘It’s a Wonderful Life’ was part of a true mission,” Grimes says. “That’s the way I look at the whole thing.”