Probably wearing myself thin but I feel the need to tell this story. It is my next closest brush with celebrity and my last, I promise. Years later than the last post when I was madly in love, this person, who was from Roswell, New Mexico, tells me that he is going to see an old high school friend and would I like to go. I said yes, would have went anywhere with him. We were going to Las Cruces, NM, a place I had never been before. He told me that his friend had a roommate who was the sister of Meredith Baxter. That was the time of the show family and I was quite taken with Meredith. When he told me we were lying in the bed and I thought to myself that the story was most likely not true. I didn't give it much more thought. Off we went, the details are another story, and arrived there at the friends house. The friend was a nice girl, earthy and more or less pretty sure of herself. She and he went off almost immediately to another part of the house, after introductions were made. The introductions included another roommate. She had platinum blond hair and a shapely figure, although somewhat bigger than what would be considered nice these days. Kind of a Marilyn Monroe type body. She was very free and seemed rather flighty. Didn't see much of her while we were there for she was gone most of the time. The other roommate was named Carol. Carol Baxter. She was tall for a girl and seemed almost lurchy (from the Addams Family) in stature. She had red hair and a pale complexion. She was painting a border around the sides of the walls, close to the ceiling. The room was cavernous in a old house, with Spanish architectural leanings. She was pretty odd I thought and I would just imagine, looking back, that she was a Joni fan. She seemed the type. I was into disco and that kind of thing at the time so was not anywhere near understanding or engaging her. Didn't see much of my boy the next day and spend most of the time just hanging out. The next night was the regular night for the show family to come on. He was, again, back in the back of the house with his close friend and I was more or less told, without words, that they were communing in a way that I was not privy to, and to get lost. Carol was doing something in that big main room but I don't remember what. I thought to myself, for lack of anything better to do, that I would find out if this purported story was true or not. I hatched a plot inside my head and went to work. I engaged her in conversation about nothing. We soon were sitting on the couch. The platinum girl was gone for the night. He and that girl were doing whatever they were doing. It was just Carol and myself there. The television was on. The show came on and I made a special point of telling her how mad I was about Meredith Baxter. It was partially true though I embellished it to a great degree. I could tell that she liked it so I kept it up. She finally asked me "do you really like her" and then "do you want to see something." I swear I was perfectly sober and did not know about drugs yet. I said yes to both questions. She left the room and came back with a photo album. Sure enough, photo after photo of the family. Real pictures of Meredith Baxter. I was pretty astonished and being that I was such a small town boy it was pretty exciting though here it will seem silly. Oddly enough, a couple of years ago I was watching one of those true hollywood things on t.v. and they made no mention of a sister named Carol so I would assume it was a step thing because these pictures were definitely authentic. She even talked to her once while I was there. The entire trip was surrealistic and the details of that are better left for another time but I will say that Las Cruces is a great place to visit.
mack ----- Original Message ----- From: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>; <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Wednesday, October 03, 2001 5:04 PM Subject: Re: closest brush with celebrity > This story is not about my *closest* brush with celebrity, but it is one I > often think about -- given everything that happened shortly after I this > happened. > > I was at Bloomingdales in Manhattan during my lunch hour in 1992 or 1993. As > I was leaving the store I happened to notice the familiar face of a former > football hero, even though I'm not much of a sports fan. He was talking with > a couple of women by the door and I never actually introduced myself to him > or asked for an autograph or anything like that because in New York, like LA, > that's just uncool. Anyway, the man was jaw-droppingly handsome, and oozed > more charm and charisma than any person I've ever seen, as if golden lights > were radiating from him. I guess that's why I wasn't too surprised when a > jury acquitted him of the murder of his ex-wife and Ron Goldman a few years > later. > > And the only time I was ever totally uncool around a celeb was when I > happened to meet the road crew for a performer I love and they gave me > backstage access to her concert on the Boston Common the following night. > Bonnie Raitt couldn't have been more gracious as I slobbered all over her. > > In a way, I'm glad I wasn't at the Joni sighting last weekend because who > knows what I would have done to embarrass myself. > > Congratulations, Kakki and Stephen. And thanks for a great story. > > --Bob
