Saturday, August 31, 2013

YAY, I Survived!


A Charlie horse in my right calf woke me up. I was surprised those two dogs attached to my legs that barked endlessly or the splitting headache didn’t wake me. It’s amazing the reaction one can have because of a four inch platform shoe. It was worth all the pain. I survived meeting Gloria Gaynor.

No, I didn’t faint. I couldn’t keep my mouth shut though because Gloria looked right at me and asked where I was from. Such a simple question, right? I pointed to myself and said, “Me?”

“Yes.”

“Where am I from?”

“Yes.”

I looked around. “St. Louis.” Not being sure if that was the right answer, I then asked, “Or do you mean where I grew up?”

I had to keep reminding myself all night long, “Just own it.” Those were my daughter’s words of wisdom.

Alice Muschany, Cathi LaMarche, Linda O’Connell and myself—us four gals all have stories in Gloria’s upcoming book, We Will Survive. We were invited to meet Gloria before and then be her guests at a private event. We had no idea what the event entailed except to dress in the 70s/80s. Since Gloria’s hit song, “I Will Survive” came out in 1978, I went for that dress attire. I’m pretty sure I was the only one.

The event was a 50th birthday party—the husband surprised his wife with none other than Ms. Gloria Gaynor. Can you imagine?

Observing the crowd, I felt like I was in the 60s/70s, but hey, they were all having fun and so was I. When Gloria sang, “I Am Who I Am,” I told myself, Lynn, you are who you are. You are quiet, conservative. Crowds, celebrities, the whole nine yards cause you to lose all brain function. Hence unable to answer a simple question. But you didn’t trip. You did your best. You made Gloria homemade gooey butter. It’s okay.

I am who I am.

And Gloria is who she is and it was a delight and honor to meet and talk with her. She’s funny, and sweet, and spiritual, and beautiful. Gloria's manager, Stephanie is sweet too and quite the hard worker. There’s so much behind the scenes one is not aware of… and I’m talking for Gloria too. I was exhausted just watching. I'm sure I only saw a glimmer of what takes place.

It hasn’t all really sunk in yet…

But those writer friends of mine are a hoot. I never laughed so hard when we drove home from the event. If you think my eyes squint when I smile, they shut when I laugh. I didn’t want to tell them, “I can’t see!” because I was driving!

I’m sure there’s more to tell and pictures will be on their way too…

14 comments:

  1. Lynn--You have a smart daughter. Actually, after meeting your three kids, you have three sharp (and kind) kids.

    Just own it. That's great advice for almost every occasion.

    I'm glad you had no fainting spells, and you four St. Louis writers had fun. You ladies will have stories to tell for a while...

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  2. Sounds like you gals had a blast (from the past).
    Once you've had time to process the experience, please give us all the details!

    Pat
    Critter Alley

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  3. Lynn, I too had a glorious time meeting Gloria and Stephanie. They were both so personable. By the way, thanks for NOT letting us know that you couldn't see while driving home. Just listening to some of the stories that are going to be in the book was a humbling experience. All I could think was how in the heck did mine make the cut? I can't wait for the bookto come out or for us Disco Queens to do a book signing, hopefully wearing comfortable shoes.

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  4. Sounds like you had fun from beginning to end! Good for you....

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  5. The time of my life. You were so much fun. Gloria and Stephanie were wonderful women. We created a lifetime memory.

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  6. Glad you had such a wonderful time, and yes, share those pictures!

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  7. How wonderful for you all! And how thoughtful of you to give Gloria Gooey Butter cake.
    A book signing with you four Disco Divas will be a writing event!

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  8. Donna, the gooey butter cake was from all of us gals, I just happened to bake it :-)

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  9. Happy Labor Day! Sounds like you had a blast. I can't wait for the pics!

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  10. Well said by your daughter, so very true.
    Glad you had such a great time at the party, looking forward to the pics! :)

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  11. I'm so happy for you, my friend! It sounds like a delightful evening, one to treasure for multiple reasons and for a lifetime.

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  12. So glad you all had such a great time!

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  13. Wow! You are so cute, Lynn. Glad that you had a wonderful time. Any pics of your outfit?

    Hugs,

    Kathy M.

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Thanks for commenting. I don't always comment back, but I do appreciate it.