[charlene]

Now, where was I!!!
Oh yeah! Orillia, Mariposa, Gord.....
I forgot to tell you that we drove about 5 miles west of Orillia to a "town" called Marchmont where there used to be a mill called "Griss Mill". This is where Gord used to spend a lot of time fishing on the North River with friends and the inspiration for Pussy-Willows-Cattails came from. The old mill is being renovated into a home now and the river is but a stream - perhaps it is Old Bill Skinner's stream??? I took pics. A friend of mine told me her dad's cousin was friends with Gord and was one of the kids that hung out at the mill with him. Her name was Betty. My friends dad said that Gord had a teenage crush on her. It was only later after looking through the programme that I saw that Gord talked about that very thing (minus Betty) in an interview. I will attach the interview tomorrow.

ANYWAY... on with the story ( I am sorry for the "Wordiness" but I can't stop!) (I am a detail oriented person!)
So after I finished taking with Terry I head over to the area behind the stage that is fenced off and past the truck that has come to siphon out the porta-toilets that the performers have been using!! About 20 feet away Gord and Terry are talking. Gord has his back to me and Terry is facing me. He sees me and a few minutes later Gord turns around. He just stands there looking at me. There is a couple about 5 feet from me and my daughter beside me. I hold up my 45 and my Sharpie and he smiles. He sort of spreads his arms out a bit and then claps his hands together as he walks towards me. I have now officially stopped breathing. I can hear my daughter saying under her breath - "Mum, he's coming, he's coming!"

He comes to about a foot away and smiles. He says " Well I guess it's time to say Hi to you folks.... HI!!!" and he laughs out loud. I say" Hi Gord, how are you?, you're lookin' pretty fit!" He said he's keepin' busy. His manager came over and I said hello to him and he shook my hand. I held up my 45 to Gord and he held it aloft and I told him I've had it for 30 years and was waiting for this day when he could sign it. He said, "WOW, thanks a lot for hanging on to it for so long. After he signed it he walked away several steps, turned and faced me and held it in front of his chest for me to take a picture! A few other people had come around and he engaged everyone in discussion. He asked where we were from and I told him Whitby. He said "oh, just down the road an hour." Highway 12 is Whitby's main road and leads right into Orillia. I introduced him to Lisa and told him that she studied Yarmouth Castle in Gr.7 English this year. He asked her how she enjoyed it and she said it was really beautiful. I laughed and said it was about the only thing the Ontario Ministry of Education had done right in a long time! He said that he had heard that a few of his tunes were being used in the schools and it was "kinda neat!"

There were about 8 people standing around and a couple of them were obviously childhood friends catching up with him. He was reeling off names of kids on his street that he played with and the Latin teacher that bored him to death! He looked at Lisa when he said that. I asked him about Marchmont and the mill and Betty. He looked at me and stopped and said he remembered the mill and Marchmont but there were so many kids he coldn't be sure. I sensed that maybe he was keeping a distance because 30 seconds earlier he was reeling off names like he was reading the phone book! I wonder???? Perhaps Betty is the one in Betty Called Me In?? Maybe he thought I was going down that road with the question and didn't want it to go any further... who knows - only Gord. Curious tho....

Well it was just a few minutes later that the cries of "Hi Dad" and "Daddeeeeeee" were heard and up ran Miles and the all too adorable Meredith. Mom Elizabeth was following behind with the nanny. Gord hugged Miles and bent down to hug and kiss Meredith. He wrapped his arms around Elizabeth and gave her a big kiss. With his arm around her he turned and waved his other arm and said to the assembled throng of 10 people, "This is my little family!" "Everyone - this is my wife, Elizabeth, this is Miles and this little one is Meredith!" He put his arm around the other woman and said and this is Rosalinda (Rosalee?) - she's our nanny. She does everything, she looks after the kids, cleans up, cooks, does the housekeeping, she's our right arm and we'd be lost without her!" I caught a glance at Elizabeth and she was not smiling while Gord recited off everything Rosalinda did! Oops!
Someone asked if we could get a family photo. Gord did a little hop and was still holding my Sharpie pen. He ducked in behind Elizabeth and Miles moved in and Meredith loudly exclaimed "not with that marker in your hand Dad!" Hands on hips and obviously the boss of everything! Gord either chose not to hear or really didn't because we snapped away and I am sure he was holding it!

The kids, wife and Nanny left and Gord continued to regale us with tales. His manager was constantly trying to get him to leave but Gord ignored his whining. He was telling some people that Gord does this everywhere - he loves to chat and recall the old days. I guess being 61 has a hand in that also. He had on his old familiar black T-shirt that is so threadbare you can see skin through it across his back! He had on black jeans (me too!) and white runners (me too!)

My husband had come around to see what was going on and brought a very special T-shirt for Gord to autograph. Leslie sent me one with the pic of her horse "Dream Street Rose". I said to Gord, "This is from Leslie in Sacramento." His eyes opened wide and then scrunched up , he put his hand on his chin and he looked up a the sky..... "HART! Leslie Hart!! I have a wonderful rendering of this in my home that she gave me. He announced to everyone he's got a home now!- "I Have a HOME now". I said "You always had a home Gord - on Beaumont Rd. in that beautiful house you lived in for all those years." He smiled at me and said "Yeah" in a quiet tone. Then, with a huge flourish signed the T-shirt, To Leslie, How you doin, Gordon Lightfoot". What the heck just happened here folks?? Hell's bells, he signed MY T-shirt to Leslie!!! When she goes to Humphrey's she's gonna get one signed To Charlene and we'll trade!! (LOL)

I asked if I could get a pic of him and he backed up a bit. Unfortunately in the backdrop the two port-toilets were looming. I asked him if he could swing to his right cuz I didn't want those things in the picture. He laughed and shuffled over a few steps. He came up beside me while my daughter took a pic of us and I put my arm across his neck. I must tell you that I surreptitiously sniffed my arm and could not detect any cologne. I said thanks for the time and shook his hand and he said "thanks for coming by."
I headed to my seat obviously because that's where I found myself a minute later. I floated there I guess. My head was full and I must have been breathing because I was there for about 20 minutes! Maybe I had died from lack of oxygen and just didn't know it! Oh NOOOOO, was it all a dream. I don't remember crying or even wanting to. I never took my eyes off him.

He's so small, he's so animated - hands going, stroking his mustache, leaning and bending and resting his chin on his hand while he listens or he's trying to think of something. It's been almost 30 years and it has taken me that long to get the courage to actually engage him in conversation, touch him and not cry. The Hallowe'en thing in 1993 was more of me standing there wishing I could disappear before I burst into tears. My husband did the conversing and I nodded and said very little. That was an out of body experience. Yesterday I was really there.
part 3... continued
Char