Chance Meeting

On TV last night was a special with Charlie Gibson about the Reverend Billy Graham. My friend Mare-demort asked "hey, didn't you meet him once?" Why yes, I did. And here is the story. Mom if you are reading this - sorry!

Quite a few years ago I had to go to Washington, DC on business. It was right around the time of Bill Clinton's second inauguration. It was cold that year, so cold that the threads holding my buttons on froze and broke and all the buttons on my coat fell off while crossing a street. The entire city was buzzing with preparations for the parade and big day. My personal life at this time was a mess, I had had my heart broken a few months earlier and was still a wreck. So, while I as in DC I decided I would go to Dupont Circle and go to a bar and get lucky! Well, that crazy thought started one of the weirdest nights of my life.

I was staying in a big hotel, I don't remember the name, but it had a shopping mall on the first two floors. So, I decided for this "big" night I needed some new underwear, just in case my plan actually worked. I go out and get into the elevator, thinking about how to accomplish my goal, since I am not very good at this sort of thing. I am the only one in the elevator for about two floors, when the doors open to let two men on. I look up and this old man with the most incredible eyes, looks at me and says "hello, how are you?". I'm standing there trying to figure out who he is, he looks familiar and he "feels" familiar. He says a few more things to me, when the doors open to let someone else on. This woman lights up and says "Oh, hello Reverend Graham". Then of course it hits me, Billy Graham! Holy crap, I am in the elevator with Billy Graham. Then I think - man, I wonder what he would think if he knew he was in an elevator with a lesbian on her way downstairs to buy new underwear in case she gets lucky tonight! I never got the chance to ask, the doors opened up and he turned and said to me "have a good evening". Hey, maybe he did know? So ended my meeting with Reverend Graham.

My evening got weirder after that, maybe someday I'll write about the rest my evening, being welcomed at an Italian restaurant that the gay guide said was gay, but wasn't anymore. Meeting their favorite customer, Willie Brown. Finding a postcard of a woman I know and she was naked. A crazy cab ride and chocolate heads.