i feel so lucky to have shared time on the planet with miss ella fitzgerald.

i work in the television industry and have met many famous people.

they are people.

meeting ella was like meeting a living saint ... a saint to the music lover, anyway. it was 4 years ago and i saw that ella was performing at music hall in detroit. i decided to surprise my mom, who is the reason i love and know ella and other great jazz musicians, and take her to the concert. i managed to get tickets.

what a show.

we were both in heaven - it was like being in another time, another realm.

after the show, we hung around the theatre a while, then left and walked around the corner and down the side of the building to our car. there were only a few people left. just as we neared the end of the building, a small door there opened and out came a man i knew from my tennis club job back then. i said:

"roger?? what are you doing here?"

roger, the part-time lawyer, part-time limo driver, was driving ella to her hotel. he said:

"would you like to meet her?"

we were pretty well agape. we waited while he retrieved her dresses and other belongings. just me and my mom, and roger coming back and forth.

then, the door opened and out came ella.

she was in a wheelchair - she was able to walk but with difficulty. when she came out, roger introduced us and we enjoyed what my mother and I remember as one of the great moments of our lives. we all, human beings that is, find things in life that move us...

artists who move us.

in that brief moment there on the street on detroit evening, i had the great honor of being able to thank one of my most treasured artists in person. and thank her i did:

"we love you, ella. your music means so much to us."

her reply?

"i love you, too, honey."

and then she asked us if the show was really okay...

  yeah, it was okay.

-- anonymous

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