Sometimes things just end up making sense....while going through some of my old things I found this....
....the autograph book I received from Our Lady of the Rosary School upon my eighth grade graduation. And inside I found this....
....an autograph circa 1965 from Madeline Madden...the very same Madeline I was lucky enough to reconnect with this past year. Amazing....
Maybe I neglected working on the mementos because I was meant to come across this particular book, with this particular signature, at this particular time. I only know that seeing this so soon after finding my old friend made for a very happy moment.
Now, the embarrassing part of this story....I also came across this....
...yes, that is Stevie Wonder's autograph. During the summer of '65 my friend and I were at a long forgotten amusement park and we found ourselves sitting next to Stevie Wonder and his manager on a carnival ride. When the ride finished, I asked Stevie for his autograph....and yes, Stevie was indeed blind back then....I cringe when I think of this request now. His manager smiled, took my autograph book, put a pen in Stevie's hand and helped Stevie sign my book. Just like that.
I was so young and didn't think my request through, but Stevie and his kind manager never made me feel anything but thrilled and happy that day. I was in the presence of two gentlemen for sure.
And that's the story of working on my mementos. The end.