Thursday, January 30, 2020

Thankful Thursday - I (ALMOST) Met Fabian Yesterday!

Isn't he the cutest??
Did you have a crush on a teen idol while growing up?  I sure did.  All of my friends loved Elvis back then, but Fabian (not Elvis) was my dream-boat-singer-crush when I was a nine-year-old, 4th-grade schoolgirl. I carried his picture everywhere and gazed at it dreamily many times a day.  Then I slept with that picture under my pillow at night.  Fabian* was my first love and I loved him deeply -- as deeply as a 4th-grader could, I'm sure.  

So, you might ask, are you still in love with Fabian?  Well, no, but I still think he's the dreamiest.  And yesterday, I ALMOST got to meet him.

Jem came home from work and said, "I've got a surprise for you, so sit down."  I dutifully sat down and listened to his story:

While he was at the museum, someone told him Fabian was there.  So, Jem started looking for him and found him at the entrance, just about to walk out the door.  

Jem stopped him and said, "Hey, Fabian, my wife has a big crush on you!" 

So, Fabian turned around, smiled (I can just imagine it -- I would have fainted!), and said, "Well, tell her thanks!"

At this point, I said, "WHY didn't you call me so I could come over there and meet him????????????" 

He explained that Fabian was with a group of people and they were ready to leave.  So. . . my dear, sweet husband asked for an autograph!  Jem's my new crush : )

Fabian even asked how to spell my name (sigh...)


I'm thankful for my autograph AND for my husband who seems to always be in the right place at the right time to meet celebrities.  Here's a partial list:


As a child, he met Tom Mix (cowboy movie actor) at the Lone Star Brewery in San Antonio, TX while taking a tour with his parents.

Also while growing up, he met the great Claire Chenault, commander of the Flying Tigers. He gets stars in his eyes when he talks about this.

He met Air Force General, Curtis Lamaye, who ran as Barry Goldwater's VP.  His wife was Jem's schoolteacher in the 6th grade. 


While living in Miami as an adult, Jem met:

Angelo Dundee who was the famous boxer Mohammed Ali's fight manager, as well as boxer Jake LaMotta, aka Raging Bull, and his wife, Vicki.  Speaking of sports, he also met Ted Henderson, aka Hollywood, pro-football player for the Oakland Raiders.
  
Jem met his favorite opera singer, the great Pavoratti when his neighbor invited him over to eat spaghetti one night (long story).

And . . . the notorious bank robber, Willie Sutton (that's a REALLY long story!).

While there, Jem had several small roles in several movies and met these stars: Bruce Dern and Charleton Heston (Black Sunday), Christopher Walken (Dogs of War).

He was in films (Supper Fuzz and Go For It) with  Terrence Hill, Bud Spence, and Andrew Prine (whose mother was Jem's next-door neighbor). Jem had a role in both films and got beat up by a roller derby queen in Go For It  (long and very funny story).


While in France, he met movie stars,  Rex Harrison and Ursula Andress.

More recently, he met and got great photos with Astronaut John Glen and two of the Tuskeegee Airmen, Col. Hiram Mann and Chappy James. 

And last, but actually first, he met television actress, Gail Storm when he was just a newborn baby.  Miss Storm was doing a tour at the base where his father was stationed and visited people in the base hospital.  Jem's mom was there!   So. . . Golden Boy Jem started and ended with a Gail.  Don't ya love it?
*
Visit Fabian's website -  http://fabianforte.net/

and here's a video of Fabian singing Turn Me Loose.  

Thursday, January 23, 2020

Thankful Thursday - Happy New Year, Y'all



Happy New Year, Gail-Friends!

I took a long holiday vacation, didn't I?  We enjoyed a happy time celebrating both Hanukkah and Christmas, then welcoming in the new year.  Doesn't "2020" sound absolutely futuristic?  I'm thankful to have lived long enough to see it.  My prayer for the new year is to have 20/20 vision about what Adonai wants me to do. 

Our Hanukkah party was a lot of fun.  I always enjoy seeing all the families bring and light their menorahs.  The glowing candles make for a beautiful sight as we remember the miracle of the oil and Yeshua our Messiah as the light of the world.  Here are a few highlights of our celebration:




As always, we had lots of yummy foods - especially the traditional ones made with oil, aka DONUTS!
Like every year in the past, I made my Hanukkah menorah dip**   (scroll to the end of this post for the recipe)
After the Hanukkah lighting, we ate a great meal together


Some played dreidl and ate lots of chocolate gelt.

After we ate, we did something different.  We had a concert.

Rabbi played Christmas carols on his psaltry

Lisbet, one of our lovely ladies, sang the song, Mary Did You Know


Wendy, Holly, and Barry led us in singing Christmas carols.

Kevin played a Christmas carol on the violin

I'm glad to report that our doxie is doing much better now.  She's full of energy and doing her best to keep our cat baby in check.  That's not easy.  Toonie Woo, Esq. is a scamp when he's not napping. 

Toonie Woo, Esq. sunbathing

As Messianic believers, we are blessed to be able to combine Hanukkah and Christmas.  Haleluyah!

I mentioned at the beginning of this post that I desire 20/20 vision for what Hashem wants me to do.  I'm praying for guidance as a wife and homemaker, a rebbetzin, a mother and grandmother, and as a writer, poet, and artist.  I'm feeling an urgency to compile my writing, both short, inspirational stories and poems, into books.

I'm grateful to have been able to publish Golden Musings, a collection of my poetic worship, and Golden Moments. a collection of lessons learned through prayer  I 've written so many other poems and stories over the years that I want to compile, so I have lots of work ahead of me, Gail-Friends.  One task is to go back through my journals (1984 - present). 

Oh, and by the way, Golden Moments is on sale right now.  You can save $2.00 on the print copy!

Prayers and blessings to you all, Gail-Friends, and have a great week.  I'll be posting on a more regular basis again, Lord willing. 

**You can find my recipe for the Hanukkah menorah dip HERE.

Whadda ya think Rabbi is thinking???