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The two best things that have come from creating this web
site back in February of 2000, was meeting Bea and meeting
other Bea fans. The fans have come and gone, but one Bea fan
that I have met online, Jessica, has been with me all the
way.
Jessica and I have emailed with each other ever since the
beginning of the announcement of Bea's tour. We soon found
out that we lived somewhat close to each other (in the same
state) and we were both excited about Bea coming to Chicago.
In fact, we found out that we both had attended the same show
Bea was in a few years prior in Chicago at the 'Strike Up
the Band' performance. We soon decided to meet up before one
of the shows and go the show together. We ended up meeting
and going to a pub near by the Park West Theatre called R.J.
Grunts. After catching up and filled with excitement we went
and saw the show. Needless to say, there is nothing better
then to go see Bea with another full fledged Bea fan! It was
a great time!
In addition, we both had tickets to another show just a few
days later. This time we were both with our moms and my partner,
we didn't get to sit together the second time, but chatted
in the lobby during intermission about the show and Bea's
performance. After the show we went around to Bea's trailer
and got a few pictures of her. I had met Bea the week before
at Sidetracks bar, but Jessica still hadn't meet her. Afterwards,
we went to another bar in Chicago, Voltaire's where a friend
had let me know that Bea would be showing up at. Unfortunately,
Jessica couldn't go because she was just shy of turning 21.
Fortunately, Jessica got to go see Bea again in September
in St. Louis and then got to meet her and hang out with her
in her dressing room. This completed both of our dreams of
meeting Bea.
Usually this is where the story would end with most people.
However, Jessica and I have kept in constant touch via email
over the next two years. Fortunately, Jessica had to come
to Chicago for an appointment on May 13th... out of all dates,
on Bea's 80th birthday! This was just to perfect for us to
meet up again. So we did! We met up at the same restaurant,
R.J. Grunts. We both brought some of our collections
to look through while at having dinner. We had a great time
going through each others clippings and photos of Bea... and
to the both of our surprise, we didn't have a lot of the same
things, which made it very interesting and fun... like Christmas
morning...
...the
photos of our little reunion :)
O'
yeah... even our waitress joined in the fun. She happen to
be a big Maude fan herself :)
We ended up reminiscing about our Bea experiences, gossip
and recent news for 3 hours. It was great seeing Jessica's
mom again who has shared our fun from the beginning and meeting
her dad too!
So, I wanted to share our story of friendship with other Bea's
fans on here. Thanks to Bea, not only has she entertained
me for years, but also introduced me to a great friend! Can't
wait until our next reunion/get together... and we already
have plans to do so!
Thanks Jess!
Kev!
*Be sure to check Jessica's story
and pictures
in the 'And Then There's Bea' section of this web site!
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