Parting with so much of my DeForest Kelley collection has put me into a nostalgic frame of mind — and tonight has been an absolute hoot!
I awoke from several hours of sleep and started thinking of the fun we had, and how outrageous some of the stunts that Kat Lane* and I pulled on “Mr. Kelley” were.
It’s almost as if I was a different person then. I mean, seriously! Looking back on it, what chances we took! Any one of which could have ended our friendship with the Kelleys.
Of course, we didn’t know that, or think that (usually) most of the time, but we would have been treading on mighty thin ice had De and Carolyn not been as amenable to, and engaged with, the shenanigans we pulled on that amazing couple.
In fact, I guess we endeared ourselves to each other during just such outlandish antics. All their other fans were treating them like gods; we were treating them like playmates! We were like a couple of puppies, yipping and yapping and biting at their heels, inviting them to play — and play they did!
Those were the days … happy, happy days!
I was going over some of the incidents in my mind. If you’ve read my book, you know about all of them: silly letters, pachyderm poop plaques, Halloween antics, my first dinner and extended visit with the Kelleys … and on and on … The fun just never ended.
Until it did.
I mean, the opportunites for fun with the Kelleys and with each other (Kat and I) ended, as all great adventures do finally. Nobody lives forever. And some friendships last only for a season or a reason, instead of for a lifetime.
But oh … how I cherish each and every memory that we created! I’m so glad I put it all into a book to share with other Kelley fans, so they can go along for the ride and get to really know De and Carolyn at a deeper level as well as I did.
I pulled up Those Were the Days and played it. As a teenager, I loved the song. But as an almost 72 year old, I appreciate it far more than I did back then. It was one of my mother’s favorites, too, because she told me she remembered her “before life” every time she heard it. I truly get that, now. I was simply too young to get it back then. Except for the tavern part of the song, it all dovetails. Nostalgia is magical and it’s poignant. Those Were the Days captures it all. If you haven’t already listened to it, do it now. It will probably resonate with you, too, especially if you’re gettin’ on in years, as I am.
The infamous striped shirt — De’s got’cha for those silly skits I wrote about it and him!
I asked him to sign it this way, and he did!
Back cover blurb De wrote for my book Floating Around Hollywood
The Pachyderm Poop Plaque in all its mummified glory!
I am so grateful that De and Carolyn were willing (seemingly even eager) to put up with all our sh*t!!! The memories I have of those years are still so vibrant and fresh that they make me laugh, smile and sigh.
Take chances with the people you love, folks. Even the celebrities. They usually get treated like royalty, and they know they don’t “deserve” that kind of adulation. They’re looking for connections, for friends, for fun, for silliness, for knowing that you know they put their pants on one leg at a time, just like you do. Take them off the pedestal you’ve put them on, and engage. You will never be the same, and neither will they.
And that’s what true friendship is all about!
God, I miss them. I miss those days. But they’re not gone until I forget them — and that is highly unlikely to happen unless I get hit over the head with a club or lose my memories in some other way.
We had such a blast.
And here’s another great song from Kenny Rogers (You Were a Good Friend) that reminds me of De: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JURxLOZXfJo. I’m not crying (as tears course down my cheeks!!), you’re crying!!!
* Not her real name; she declined to be named in my book, so I gave her a pseudonym; someday I hope she will relent so I can give her credit for the joy she brought to our lives, the Kelleys and mine.
