The Story of Their Lives, With a Twist.

What's your dream?

Everyone dreams, no matter what their age. But as our life progresses, sometimes we let go of even our fondest dreams. At Marquis, we say, don’t even think about letting go. We believe as long as there are still things you want to do, there’s always time to write a new chapter.

What follows are some stories we were privileged enough to help bring to the pages of some extraordinary people’s lives. From flying an airplane, to a hole-in-one, to hot air ballooning, these dreams were finally realized.

Willie made his way through a series of small California towns hustling pool. In Stockton, Fresno, and Madeiro, folks kept bringing in new blood to take him down. They couldn’t.

“They were constantly sending in new people thinking they could beat my behind,” he begins. “I had a bunch of tough people to play all the time. But I did alright.”

He did do alright, playing eight ball and nine ball, but things changed when he discovered a game called “one pocket.”

“When I first got into it, I saw a dream there,” he remembers. “I thought, ‘This is the game, here!’ That game took me a long way.”

Took him a long way throughout California and Oregon, through great times and rough times, until he started settling into traditional jobs, and a life with some roots. Now, he couldn’t be happier with his life.

“I used to be upset when my grandkids called me ‘grampa.’ I’d say, ‘Who you callin’ grampa’?” he laughs. “Finally, I settled down into it, you know? Life hasn’t treated me too bad.”