b) You met your favourite celebrity in a shopping mall on a festive occasion. You were
feeling on the top of the world! Make a diary entry about how you behaved and felt.
Answers
Answer:
On one of my trips to Ireland (I think this was in 1996) I stayed in a beautiful little town in western Ireland for a few days. Right on the edge of town was this absolutely gorgeous, incredibly expensive hotel that I could never aspire to enter. However, the hotel grounds were open to the public and featured some lovely walking paths. One ran right down to and alongside a river that was renowned for its trout and salmon fishing. I stopped, at a respectful distance, to watch one fly fisherman who was an absolute master at casting, just a joy to watch. It was finally time for me to walk on, and as I passed, he said hello. He was a lovely man with a lovely English accent and he looked somewhat familiar. But I have a terrible time recognizing faces, and had no idea whether I’d actually ever seen him before. I told him how much I’d enjoyed watching him cast, and he sort of blushed and mumbled his thanks. He asked if I fished, and I had to tell him I was probably the only person in Alaska who didn’t. He became very animated at my mention of Alaska. He had been out to a pristine fishing lodge in Alaska the year before and thought the fishing was the best in the world. I knew some of the staff there, and we had a very nice chat about his trip to Alaska. It was finally time for me to move on, so I told him how much I’d enjoyed talking to him, and that I hoped he’d be able to return to Alaska sometime soon.
The next day was Sunday and I walked to Mass with the lady who was the owner of the B&B where I was staying. Time came for sharing the sign of peace with the folks surrounding us, so after I shook hands with the landlady, I turned around to the man sitting behind us. I shook his hand, said “Peace be with you”, and he gave me a huge smile. I remember that his fingers felt immensely callused. I turned back to my landlady and her eyes were as big as dinner plates. As we were walking home, she asked if knew who I had just shaken hands with. I told her no, but that I’d had a great conversation with him the day before about fishing and Alaska. She told me he came to stay at that hotel every fall because he loved the fishing so much. I asked if he was famous, since he looked so familiar. She sort of took my elbow with tremendous compassion, as if she were walking with a crazy woman. “It’s only Eric Clapton”, she told me.
I’d only been a fan of his since 1966 when he was with Cream. At various points in my life, I probably owned most of his albums, cassettes, and even his new-fangled CD’s. Had I known who he was, I never would have dreamed of talking to him. His casting truly was a thing of great beauty, which I will never forget.
Explanation: