MADISON—“You can’t always get what you want, but if you try sometime you find, you get what you need.”

His Holiness the Dalai Lama may well agree with the Rolling Stones on this point. It proved true last week for Jr. Reporter Isabelle Maslow, 8, of Grantsburg.

She traveled to the capital to interview the 14th Dalai Lama. She did not get what she went for, but she got something she never expected—perhaps something more.

A few weeks ago Miss Maslow applied and was granted full-press credentials to cover the Tenshug, a Tibetan long-life ceremony. The event, attended by some 5,000 people, was held for the acknowledged spiritual and political leader of Tibet at the Alliant Energy Center.

 But when she arrived last Thursday, with her three questions ready in hand, it was revealed the international press conference was cancelled. In fact, the Dalai Lama was not talking to any reporters during his stop in Wisconsin on his US tour.

Victoria Chertok, global reporter with C-NEWS, said she waited and petitioned for six days for any word from him. But she was sent back to Vermont with the sound of silence.

What young Maslow did get, which no other reporter got, was a personal blessing from His Holiness—a unique and rare event.

Certain selected individuals are permitted to present scarves to the Dalai Lama. And on occasion, he will touch the scarf and bless it.

A scarf was personally presented to the Buddhist leader on behalf of the young girl. And he graciously took the scarf into his hand and blessed it for her.

Upon receiving the scarf, she smiled wide as her eyes filled with tears. “He did it!” she exclaimed.

She did not get what she went for, but she got something she will always treasure.

“Remember that not getting what you want is sometimes a wonderful stroke of luck.” (Dalai Lama)