She said those words to me, "It was meant to be." She listened to me and that was her answer. I was choked up (and likely not particularly comprehensible), but never-the-less, we made a brief, yet monumental, connection.
This trip to NYC has been planned for months, tickets to shows were bought in June. This is our 10th anniversary trip, our first vacation without Simon and Greg, and the planets aligned for me today.
It was pure unadulterated serendipity that I was in NYC for the signing of Rosie O'Donnell's newest book CELEBRITY DETOX - The Fame Game. The book was supposed to come out last month. The book signing was supposed to happen LAST Tuesday. WHY it was delayed, I do not know, but because it was, I met Ro.
(Why I feel like *I* can call her Ro, when her stage name is Rosie, I just don't know. But it feels right. Kind of like that hurdle you cross when you FINALLY admit you are a grownup and even though you SHOULD have called your third grade teacher by her first name for years, you FINALLY are able to do it. But I digress...)
The wait in line was actually quite pleasant. I met a lovely young man, Mike, an actor from Chicago, and we both read our new books for the first hour and then chatted about a wide range of subjects. Cool kid, has his head on straight, better than most do at twenty-something. I think he'll get somewhere in life.
The experience of meeting Ro was overwhelming. Kelli was there. That woman is simply stunning. I think I also recognized Ro's publicist (Cindi Berger, I think) from the Dixie Chicks documentary. And then, there she was.
A woman so brave, who champions for children, who lives and breathes the truth. And she talked to me.
I had a picture of Simon and Greg in their peace t-shirts. I gave it to her, telling her I was sharing some of my yellow with her, since she was always giving so much to others. She asked who took the photo (I did) and said they were beautiful.*sigh*
(That's when I started crying.)
I thanked her. For doing so much... for children... for the TRUTH.
YELLOW * YELLOW * YELLOW!
Tonight, we see Spring Awakening. I love New York.
*******************************************************
Yellow Serendipity - Part Two
We went to a very late lunch after the book signing and had some time to kill before Spring Awakening, so I told Rich that Ro was showing art in a gallery somewhere REALLY close to the Eugene O'Neill Theatre where Spring Awakening was playing. So we hiked in on over to 49th Avenue to go to the gallery. We arrived at a little before 5pm and there was a lot of commotion. It seems that there was a private party (with Ro and as it turned out, a lot of celebrity guests). Since there wasn't really time to go back to the hotel and return for the 7pm curtain, we just wandered around the area for a while.
Until it started to rain.
So Rich and I hung out under the awning outside the gallery, waiting for the rain to pass - and waiting to hear from a college friend of Rich's to see if he and his new bride were going to be able to meet us. Well! While we were waiting, we saw Chita Rivera going into the gallery. THE * Chita * Rivera. Oh MY LANTA!
Oddly enough, I also saw Tom Hulce. He is probably best known from Amadeus, but he is a consummate stage actor. He was walking past the gallery towards the theatre. (Turns out, he is one of the producers of Spring Awakening.)
Anyway, when we didn't hear from Jim, and the rain passed, we headed to the theatre.
Spring Awakening was freekin amazing. Excuse me, please, because I need to repeat myself. It was FREEKIN amAzing. It has some naughty bits and a lot of coarse language, so it is NOT for children, or the weak-hearted, but seriously, a truly incredible show.
Did I say that I love New York?
