Busy week. Let's ride.
Started out cool so I dressed warm. Then it warmed up and I got a little hot.
Met Charlie at the Tire Poppers. He said he wanted to do a 45 minute Junction. That's a brisk but doable pace for me, and we got'er done. We met some other folks along the way; we talked about growing old gracefully, and some other stuff I forgot.
After I got home, I learned the news that Tina Turner had died. This struck me especially hard, because Tina and I once shared a special moment together. Here's my story.
It was 1976 and the Ike and Tina Turner Revue were doing a concert in Cedar Rapids Iowa. I was a busboy at a hotel restaurant in nearby Coralville Iowa and we would sometimes host celebrities when they came to town, and the whole hotel knew Ike and Tina were staying there. So when the hostess that night handed me a room service ticket, she said "This is Ike and Tina's room." My heart fluttered a little bit, I smoothed back my hair, unwrinkled my busboy tunic, and popped a couple breath mints in my mouth. I of course was expecting to see THE Tina Turner... with the short dress made out of tinsel and the big hair and LEGS. I didn't exactly expect her to put on a show for me or anything, but I thought she might be dressed and ready to go. Her room was the farthest room away, I guess to give them a little privacy. I imagined she'd say "Oh thank you handsome young man... I love a Reuben Sandwiccccccchhhh"... and perhaps she wouldn't be able to control the urge to do a little dance right there. Well the door opened, and a somewhat ordinary-looking, soft-spoken woman in a bath robe and towel on her head greeted me. I looked at her I guess a little quizzically, in my mind wondering if this were really her. She recognized my expression, signed the ticket, and gave me a sly little wink. Then on the way back to the restaurant I realized I had Tina Turner's autograph! Except she had signed it "Ike Turner". That was the day that I joined the exclusive club of busboys who had served Tina Turner. I don't think she winked at every one, but she touched us all.
UPDATE: Ooh, look... thanks to the internet, I was able to pinpoint the date of the concert: it was May 23, 1976... 47 years ago, almost to the day... and only two months before she left Ike for good (by sneaking out of their hotel room in Dallas).
LINK
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| Putrefied possum yet remains |
