Olivia Newton-John: Her Inspiration To Me & Our Meeting

It all started when I was 6 years old. My Uncle is actually the one who introduced me to her, her music and movies. When I was a little kid visiting my Grandparents, I would go upstairs to his room and sit on the floor listening to all his vinyl records with these big ass headphones on (I have that photo somewhere; I desparately need to find it). Among the records were Sheena Easton and Olivia Newton-John. The moment I heard Olivia's voice, I was immediately in love. I honestly can't even put into words the effect she had on me. He had a poster of her up on his wall (which he gave me many years later and it's now proudly framed and hanging in my bedroom); an original poster from 1974. I would sit and stare at the poster thinking how pretty she was, while being swept away by her voice. Soon there after, I was introduced to Grease (which I know every single word to lol - it's my most favorite movie EVER) and Xanadu. I didn't realize what vital role she would play in my life as a child and still today.

I have Cerebral Palsy. It's only in my legs. Thankfully, I'm able to walk and get around just fine without any kind of assistance. The only time I need to use a wheelchair, is when there is excessive walking and/or standing involved. I've had 9 operations on my legs throughout my life; the first when I was 3 and the last when I was 15 (although, I don't remember my very first one). Whenever I needed to have an operation, my Uncle Vern would make me a cassette tape filled with all my favorite Olivia songs, so that I could listen to it on the long drive to Rochester (MN); which is approx a 1 1/2 hours south of where I live. I would listen to her on the drive down, I'd listen to her the night before trying to calm my nerves. I'd listen to her the morning of the surgery. I'd listen to her during my physical therapy. Every moment I had, I would listen to her. And if I couldn't listen to her music, then I would watch Grease, Xanadu or her 1982 Physical Tour VHS tape of my Uncle's (which incidently, my cousin Danielle and I wore out because we played it so much, so when I was 16, he bought me my own copy). It was Olivia that would keep me calm. She would keep me sane, be my company and give me strength. I remember when my mom and I would be in my bedroom doing my at home physical therapy. I would be laying on the floor and I would just stare at the pictures I had of her on my wall and I'd always say to my mom, "Someday I'm going to meet her, so I can tell her thank you for everything she's done for me". It took 21 years, but it finally happened on September 14th, 2001.

My cousin DeeAnn and I had been to a few Olivia concerts together. She's a huge Olivia fan too (and is Danielle's older sister) and obviously she knew how important it was for me to meet Olivia. That year, we drove to Wisconsin to see her and I knew that if I was ever going to meet her, this was going to be it. I had come close about 3 times from the late 80's till 2001, but it would be taken away just as quickly. So I knew it was basically now or never and DeeAnn was determined to make it happen.

When we got to the theater (which was SOLD OUT - we had 11th row) and to our seats, DeeAnn told me to stay put and that she was going to try talking to some people. I had no idea what she was going to say or who she was going to talk to, but I knew she was on a mission. Once she gets started on something, there is no stopping her. I watched her walk up the asile and saw her immediately talking to an usher and then they went walking up the asile and out of the showroom. It was about 15 minutes later when she finally came back. She was oddly quiet, but had this funny grin on her face. She sat down next to me and got comfortable, not saying a word. I just stared at her thinking, "Um, HELLO!?". She then leaned in and whispered "I just talked to her tour manager and at the end of the show, we are supposed to wait until the crowd empties and then head over to the side door over there. You're going to meet her." I COULD NOT BELIEVE IT. She didn't have time to tell me how she did it, because the show was just about to start and let me tell ya, that was the weirdest feeling. As much as I couldn't wait for her to get onstage and not have the show end; I also couldn't wait for it to be over, so we could walk over to that side door!!

When the show ended (she puts on an AMAZING 2 hour show, btw), DeeAnn and I waited for the crowd to empty and during that time she started to explain what happened. Basically, she just talked to anyone she could, who looked official and who dealt with the theater. The entire time, she told them about her "cousin who has Cerebral Palsy and it's been her dream since she was 6 years old to meet her", which eventually lead her to Olivia's tour manager. DeeAnn then told me that she had to kind of embelish with my CP a bit and told them that I can walk, but that I need to hang on to her for assistance. I said, "That won't be embelishing! My legs are going to be like jello, so I'll need to hang on to you!!". Finally we slowly made our way over to the small crowd of fans that had gathered. Most were contest winners who obviously knew they would be meeting her. They had backstage passes around their necks, flowers, gift bags, etc. Thankfully I brought my most special Olivia CD for her to sign (I brought it with me to every Olivia concert, just in case), called "Gaia - One Woman's Journey". Suddenly, this MASSIVELY HUGE man came out and said "Anyone who doesn't have a backstage pass, must leave now" and he immediately looked at us. I thought, "NOOOOOOO!!!!" I was terrified. DeeAnn was just about to start explaining the situation, when her tour manager came running out and said, "They're fine! I've given them my personal authorization". PHEW! I just smiled at the man and nodded and he smiled and winked back.

Soon it was time to go into the backstage area. There was probably about 30 people total, waiting to see her. We were told that the meeting had to be quick and that she was only allowed to sign one item, as they had to start driving out to the next gig in about 2 hours. I was a little disappointed when I heard that, BUT I didn't care because I was going to finally be meeting my "idol" since I was a little girl. DeeAnn suggested that we wait to be the last in line, that way I could sit on the steps and wait (which was a great idea). But before you know it, it was time for us to start walking up the steps, towards her dressing room. There were about 6 people ahead of us and suddenly I saw her walk in front of the step area. I immediately squeezed the life out of poor DeeAnn's arm, because I had just seen her and it was really her. Olivia Newton-John was less than a foot away from me.

Finally, my turn had come. I stood there at the top step and just stared at her and could NOT stop smiling. She smiled at me and said, "Hi!! How are you?" and she held out her hand. I took her hand and said, "I'm very good now!" and everyone in the room laughed (it was her management team and that same bodyguard). I asked if she would sign my CD and as she asked my name, I was so happy that she spelled it right without even having to ask. She told me I had a beautiful name and proceeded to ask where I was from, how old I was, if I liked the show, etc. She was SO incrediably nice and I was surprisingly very relaxed. When we posed for our picture, she bent her knees just a bit, so we would be kind of close in height (she's actually only like 5'4") - so cute. After that, I told her that our birthday's are only 2 days apart and since hers is on the 26th of September (mine is on the 28th), I wanted to wish her a very happy early birthday. She thought that was very sweet and then wished me a happy birthday too. I said thank you and gave her a big hug (she gives amazing hugs).

I started to walk away and immediately thought to myself, "What are you doing?!?! Tell her everything!" So, I turned around and walked back over to her, she was looking at me and smiling. I proceeded to tell her about having CP, that she's been such an inspiration to me since I was 6 years old and told her all about how she would help me through surgery, therapy and everything else that happens in my life. While I was telling her everything, that's when the magnitude of the moment hit me and I started to cry. I couldn't believe that after 21 years, I was finally meeting her and telling her thank you face to face. As I was telling her everything, she was holding both of my hands and looking deep into my eyes with a smile on her face, and tears filling up her eyes. When I finally finished talking, she said to me "Tamara, you are the reason why I do what I do. Thank YOU for sharing your life with me, thank you for letting me be a part of your life. It was MY pleasure to meet YOU" and then she pulled me to her, giving me the most gentle and secure hug I have ever recieved. She gentlely pressed my face against her chest and just slowly rocked back and forth, like a mother does her child. I could hear her heart beating. And as always, she made me relax. I will remember that moment and feeling for the rest of my life. It was at that moment where I knew her and I formed a different kind of "bond" and ever since then, I was thought of her more as a mother figure, than my favorite singer. After standing there for a couple minutes, holding each other, she then took my face in her hands, smiled and said, "I hope those are happy tears?", to which I laughed and responded, "Yes they are happy tears!!" She laughed and said good and then it was DeeAnn's turn to meet her. But Olivia held onto my hand, as I walked over to lean against the wall. :) As DeeAnn was talking to Olivia, I was standing next to that MASSIVELY HUGE bodyguard. He looked down at me, grinned and said, "That was pretty cool huh?" and I looked up him and said, "Oh you have NO idea!!!".

Soon, DeeAnn's moment with her was done and it was time to leave. Olivia walked over to me, told me she loved me, gave me another big hug and squeezed my hand and we walked out of the room. As we were walking to the car, DeeAnn told me that when I was telling Olivia about my life, I had everyone in tears - including that bodyguard. When we got in the parking lot and knew no one was around, THAT was when we let it ALLLLLL OUT!!!! We hugged each other, hung on to each other and jumped up and down, screamed, cried... everything.

If I think about it hard enough, I can still feel her hand on my shoulder as we had our picture taken, when she held my hands and every time we hugged. I will treasure that moment for the rest of my life and will always be forever grateful to Olivia. She has always been and always will continue to be a very important and inspirational person in my life.

Adorable little tidbit: DeeAnn's then 7 year old daughter is a HUGE Grease fan and is named Olivia (after Olivia, actually). DeeAnn told Olivia about her and brought along Libby's Grease CD. Olivia signed it: "To Little Olivia, Love Big Olivia". I LOVE that. She is simply the sweetest person EVER.