One never knows who one will meet

August 2021--Picture this: Honolulu. 1991. (Do I sound like Sophia from Golden Girls?)

We were in Hawaii in December 1991 to see Notre Dame play against the University of Hawaii. Hard to believe I did this because A) I’m not a fan of the sun, B) Not a fan of going into the water let alone the ocean, and C) I’m not as big of a fan of Notre Dame as my husband is.

But it was an extraordinary trip; a chartered cruise with a lot of wonderful people. Some I knew before we left—others I got to know while we were there. And many others I met along the way.

People like William Parker. I met William in a souvenir shop. He looked a little on the disheveled side—like he hadn’t shaved in a week. His clothes were rather worn and I thought maybe he was down on his luck. He noticed the Pearl Harbor pin I was wearing and asked where I got it. I explained to him it was given to us by the cruise line to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Pearl Harbor attack. He looked totally bummed, thanked me and started to walk away.

We had gotten two pins and I knew my husband really didn’t care about his, so I followed him. I stretched out my hand with the pin sitting in my palm. Oh, the way his face lit up with the most beautiful smile. With that he reached into his wallet. I quickly told him I couldn’t accept any money for the pin. He smiled back and just handed me his business card. He was a Secret Service agent working at the White House assigned to the presidential detail. You know that old saying to never judge a book by its cover? Well, never judge a man by the 5-day shadow on his face and the wrinkles in his clothes.

William told me he was undercover working in Honolulu while the elder President Bush was in town to preside over a ceremony at Pearl Harbor. With that he said he’d like to repay me for my kindness by offering a personal tour of the White House. We kept in touch after leaving the island, but had to cancel our tour when one of our sons became ill just days before we planned to go to Washington D.C. I wonder if he still has that pin.

Cruise Commemorative Ceremony

Our ship, the U.S.S. Constitution, was the only ship allowed to cross into the area where the Pearl Harbor Memorial is located. It was a beautiful ceremony and you couldn’t help but shed a tear when you heard about the chaos that ensued on Dec. 7, 1941, the damage and the death.

Several survivors were on board. I was drawn to them. I wanted to hear their stories. They were powerful tales and I wished so much I had a recorder or at least pen and paper to take notes.

Meeting a Movie Star--by chance

I also had an opportunity to meet Gloria DeHaven, an actress and singer whose career spanned over five decades. Her last film was “Out to Sea” in 1997 with Jack Lemon and Walter Matthau. She appeared on many television shows like playing Bess Shelby on Ryan’s Hope, Sara Fuller on As the World Turns, The Love Boat, Murder She Wrote, Marcus Welby, MD, Fantasy Island and numerous others. Plus, she was a guest panelist on The Match Game.

It all started while sitting in the lobby waiting for my husband and a friend to get back on the ship before it launched. I’ll admit I was quite concerned. They hadn’t gotten back on the ship and the ship wasn’t going to wait.

I’ll spare you all the details but I was pretty frantic and told them I was going to get off the ship. I just couldn’t go on a cruise without him getting back on that ship. Had no idea Ms. DeHaven was sitting in the lobby and overhearing this frantic woman’s pleas to not set sail just yet.

A couple of days later I was down on the main level and in walked this beautiful woman (unbeknownst to me she was a famous celebrity) and she said to me, “Aren’t you the woman who lost her husband last night? I mean, whose husband got lost? Did you ever find him?”

I sheepishly explained that he had gotten on without me knowing and was in one of the bars a few stories up. We laughed about the fact that she overheard me. I remember her saying it was pretty hard not to hear me. Then we chatted for a while and introduced ourselves. I still had no idea who she was and didn’t learn until I saw a poster announcing she was on board and was going to entertain, sign autographs or something. (Insert face palm.) The next day she graciously posed with me for a picture and once again we shared a few laughs about the whole “lost husband” incident.

An Olympian on board

While sightseeing a few days later, while we were docked in Oahu, I noticed a man taking a picture of a woman with Diamond Head in the background. Then he stood in front of the rail with the stunning ocean views behind him while she took the picture.

Well, this just wasn’t going to do. So I walked up to them and asked if they were here together and if so, they needed to be in a picture together. Snapped a few photos of them with her camera and we introduced ourselves.

The woman’s name was Annette Rogers Kelly, one of the four gold medal relay team winners from the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin. (I also learned she and her husband, Pete, were from Illinois and part of the chartered group we were with.) Annette had competed in the individual relay and high jump in the 1932 and 1936 Olympics and won two gold medals in the relay, setting a world record in 1932. While at the Olympics in 1936, she participated with the world famous Jesse Owens, who won four gold medals, a feat that went unmatched for nearly 50 years. Both Annette and Jesse Owens marched past Adolf Hitler in that competition.

Once we returned home, Annette and Pete invited us and another couple from the trip, our dear friends Pete and Mary Kay, to their home in the northwest suburbs. I was fascinated by her stories. We had a great evening and she signed a photo for me.

There’s a moral to this story—not a deep, soul-searching moral—but one that just says you never know who you’re going to meet—so just be kind to everyone. It didn’t matter to me they were celebrities in their own right—to me they were just kind people with whom I shared a great deal of laughter. And, as it turned out, they shared amazing stories that captivated me. It was a wonderful experience meeting all those awesome people.

Oh yeah, and being in Hawaii surrounded by some of the most beautiful scenery in the world wasn’t too shabby either. Did get a little sun, did dip my toes in the ocean, but never stepped foot in that football stadium.

Take it one day at a time…

Read another!