Last week Mike and I were in Colorado Springs. As I mentioned earlier, he was attending a church conference and I was pretty much just coming along for the ride. I wasn't a part of the meetings so I spent some time waiting around in the lobby. I realize some may think that was miserable for me but those would be people who don't know two things about me... 1) I love to people-watch. 2) I love to crochet and I can do that just about anywhere. So, watching people AND crocheting at the same time makes for a lovely event as far as I am concerned. A hotel lobby isn't quite as good as an airport, but it is pretty close to being as much fun for me.
It was our last evening there, and I was again in the lobby crocheting, when I met a lady named Dorothea. She was a bit older than me and was not with the church group. She came out of the hotel bar with her wine and sat near me. We started visiting and I learned some things about her. She was on some sort of wildlife board and they would be meeting at the hotel the next day. She'd driven down from the mountains early and was just spending the evening relaxing. I liked her right away.
Dorothea mentioned a display she'd seen, associated with our conference, that said something about feeding the children. She made a comment, "It's like John Denver used to say, it's not that there isn't enough food but it isn't distributed fairly." Well, that caught my attention. You see, I am, by association, a John Denver fan.
Before I even dated Mike I knew he loved John Denver music.
The guys in our class in high school teased him about it as many of them were more fond of the rock bands of the 70's. Mike, however, is very musical himself and John Denver had been a big inspiration to him as a teen. I think Mike can sing and play any John Denver song, and he does it quite well.
Mike writes songs himself, a lot of songs, and some are kind of in the same category of style I guess. Actually, Mike's appeal to me even more, but it is possible that I may be prejudiced. Even so, I think most people would agree they are very, very good.
Do you remember
Annie's Song? Isn't it one of the most beautiful love songs of all time? Well, my middle name is Ann and on our second date Mike played a diddly he'd thrown together called,
Sue Annie's Song. Neither of us really remember that song now but I do remember the idea of it and it was sweetly silly. I was charmed! That was the first of many songs Mike wrote for me. I will tell you more about Mike's music another day.
Mike and I were able to attend 4 different John Denver Concert's over the years. It was a lot of fun and he really was a great entertainer. By the 4th one I kind of hoped he'd notice us and invite us into his hotel or bus or whatever to visit with us. It is my belief that John needed some help with his theology and I think Mike could've helped him a bit. After that, they could've got out their guitars and sung together. Now THAT would've been a great blog!
One Christmas I was pretty proud of myself when I found an autographed John Denver photo on E-Bay. Of course, I couldn't tell you if that was actually his autograph, but Mike accepted the gift graciously.
Anyway, back to Dorothea... She wasn't just quoting John Denver from some PBS talk, she'd known him personally as she'd lived in Aspen for 25 years. She spoke of what a great human he was. She was on the school board and sometimes he'd come to speak to the kids, elementary as well as high school, about world hunger. She told me he made her promise to keep a scheduled talk a secret. He just wanted to speak with the children without parents (and publicity) showing up. She really thought a lot of him. It was nice to hear that side of his story.
I was so happy when Mike came out into the lobby so he could also meet Dorothea. I didn't want to make too big of a deal about it because I didn't want her to think we were weirdos, even though maybe we are. I even dreamed once that I invited John Denver and Annie over for supper, so I guess that officially qualifies me as a weirdo. We are aware John Denver had some things in his past we didn't really want to know, but for that night, we only got to hear good things about him. It was lovely. I am glad to have met Dorothea.
Are there celebrities, dead or alive, that you wish you could meet? What would you want to talk about?
