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NEWS FORUM / Beau meets a former teen idol of the 1970s!
Vol. 2, No. 1

February 2, 2000

Hi, again!

What a great turn-of-the-Y2K experience! Since the winter season here in Phoenix, Arizona is nice and cool, Beau & I take advantage to drive around town, or out of town, while the climate is more comfortable than the God-awful 110º F summer. On Friday, January 28, 2000, one of the places I decided to take him was this restaurant/club called Mill Avenue Sport Rock Cafe, in nearby Tempe, to see the Leif/Godspeed show. Good thing the place is a small venue. You don't need to reserve tickets. Just walk right in! Remember, Beau went with me as a Hearing Ear Dog, and that this place does not allow pets. We arrived before 6 PM to see if we can meet with Leif (rhymes with "Safe as in Chow Mein", as he's constantly reminds others since childhood, not "Leaf" or "Life") Garrett during soundchecking. He and his band had already arrived there before we managed to, so we stood by my car to decide what to do and, WHOA, Leif casually came out (probably on break to go somewhere). His green van happened to be parked right next to my green car. I waved hello to him to introduce him to Beau, and if he'd like to do a photo session with us. Leif was willing. The first thing he noticed was Beau on the front passenger seat of my car wearing a seat belt. I handed Beau over to Leif, whose expression conveyed that Beau was easy to handle! (I'm always very confident of Beau with people everywhere!) Leif's lady assistant took a picture of Leif holding Beau and me, then I took two pictures of Leif holding Beau. Leif and I spoke a little, and boy, was he so easy to talk with. I'm constantly encountering people who just don't listen in an alert manner, but Leif heard every word I said. I mentioned meeting his sister Dawn (who played Beverly Garland's daughter Dodie on the "My Three Sons" TV series) at an autograph event and how I missed Leif's performance at the Arizona State Fair 20 years ago [Mom's fault; she would not drive me]. He asked me if I'd be seeing his show at the Cafe, and I said yes. As Leif was leaving to go to the van (where his band and assistant were waiting- hee, hee), Leif turned and hugged me and kissed my left cheek. Thanks, Leif...not only did I have a stressful day, I had not been hugged in a long time! Yes, Beau was watching the entire scenery. Sigh! BTW, an interesting premonition: I had a dream of this scenery a week prior that matched exactly as what happened here(!?) I had prayed to God to 'transcribe' if it meant something to be had...

The staff had no problem with Beau being inside their business establishment. I was an early bird, so we were among the first to arrive. We sat with two interesting gals, Lisa and Veronica (who didn't know who Leif was but was kind to Lisa for driving her from Sierra Vista, Arizona- 3 hours to Tempe. Lisa has loved Leif for so long...). As the venue's capacity grew and got loud, Lisa (38), Veronica (46), and I (35) communicated a lot via note-writing; even Lisa was familiar with some American Sign Language, which came in handy in the midst of all that loud music from the first two opening acts (the second being way too loud- ugh). Throughout the night, the gals from the Godspeed Fan Club arrived from various states. Sue (35) is one of the hosts of their site who flew from Virginia. Lisa did a good job introducing me to the gals. They were so kind to Beau & me. You could tell the gals enjoyed each other's company. They had being communicating on the web for about a year and were meeting each other for the first time at the Cafe. Some came over to pet Beau; one of them took a picture of him, the other videotaped him a litte. Beau was very patient and gracious throughout the night. He & I were there from 6 PM to just past 12 midnight(!) Lisa brought a glass dish of water over to Beau. I was not hungry due to anticipating Leif/Godspeed's performance, but I did munch on some chips with a cup of water. Veronica had been very understanding of Lisa wanting to meet Leif. She was wearing ear muffler in case it got so loud for her in there! I guess doggie ear plugs are not too effective. Beau could hear and was very alert, but throughout the night, he got so relaxed from the music that he started to slink off my lap and landed on the floor! He was fine.

Finally, at 11 PM (to about 12:10 AM), Leif & Godspeed started to perform. Many people neared the stage (which was about 2 feet off the ground) to dance and/or ogle. Some of us stood on the chairs. Some danced on the chairs only, some to see enough for pictures, I did so to videotape and take pictures! What a good view I had! Beau sat on the chair next to mine napping! He NEVER cares for any type of music. And, the music? My, I enjoyed it! Sounded like alternate/trance-like music- I think six songs, a couple nice ones "Are You Satisfied" and "Lola", which is a far cry from his teenybop heyday singing "nursery rhymes" 1950s cover songs, as they were called. What a beautiful voice he has. Whenever I'm in the mood to remember what a fun night I had (and NEEDED), I can just simply watch on my tape...
Oh, back to reality, nice meeting you Lisa, Veronica, Sue, Kelly, Fortune, and a few others...so many names, ahh! Kudos to the owner of the Cafe, Peter (Pedro), and the waitress for being so kind about Beau's presence (and for allowing pictures/videotaping!). And, thank YOU, Leif, for coming to my city and taking the time to give me undivided attention to chat (20 minutes!)-- you were SO personable and cute. And, you helped fill the void of my past. And, you look terrific at 38. Don't let those past demons haunt you.

The two beautiful autographs below and the pictures (in our PHOTO GALLERY) are something I will treasure forever! It's now on display on my Archive Wall!
The next day, my right shoulder was a bit sore from holding my videotape (Viewcam by 'Sharp'- excellent quality) up steadily to get a good shot. That's okay, it was worth it...

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!!

Thanks for the memory, Leif.