babs and me

last night about 9 pm i decided to go swimming. the water in the pool is 88 so its perfect for night swimming.. i put on a streisand cd and just floated. a warm pool and babs singing. doesn't get much better than that for me.

i closed my eyes as i floated and remembered the first time i met her. it was in las vegas in 1994 and my first moment of meeting her is inbedded in my brain. i recall feeling light headed when i saw her.. what shocked me is how little she is. shes slender and shockingly beautiful. she was wearing an all white outfit with a white cashmere shawl and shes a blonde. so to me she looked like an angel. it was one of those special moments in my life.

i went to all her rehearsals, her sound checks and after singing People, her signature song, she actually said, linda , how was that? i remember saying, barbra its a hellava lot better than i can do or any other person on this planet. she laughed.

her concert in 1994 was her first in 27 years and quite an event. i went to the vip after party and saw every famous person i'd ever imagine seeing in one room. but the star was barbra. everyone else didn't matter to me. it was me and babs. we talked well into the morning hours. i kept thinking as we talked, shes barbra streisand. what a time i had.

in 2006, i went to her concert in florida. her publicist said to me, she performed for you tonite. she sang directly to me.. i felt flattered and self concious. after the show, i was escorted back stage and went into a room with some heavy duty luminaries. i sat in that room and began fuming that everyone was escorted into barbras dressing room and i sat like a bump on a log.. finally, marty ehrlichman, her manager, came up to me and said, be patient, she has to say hello to everyone but she wants to spend time with you so you'll go in last. last became my favorite word. finally i went to her dressing room and james brolin was there. i couldn't care less. babs and i began to talk and she asked how my daughter was and i asked how her son was. we all of the sudden were just two mothers talking about our kids.

she talked about her bout with agoraphobia and i talked about mine.she lost her father when she was 15 months old and that really defined her. i lost my father when i was 8 and that defined me for a long time. everything between us was so similiar but truly not.. shes barbra joan streisand.. icon. everyone on this planet with few exceptions know who she is. in my world, i'm very famous also (that just made me laugh) we chatted for about an hour and i told her i was coming to the show the next night again. she was happy about that she said. both nights she introduced me to her audience and all the sudden i was her friend. two jewessess! one who can sing and one who can't.

i havent seen babs since 2006 but shes never far from me.. her voice is the music of my soul and last night in the swimming pool and her singing, was dreamy. it was as close to perfection as one can get.

i wonder how this generation can rave about kayne west or emminem when they make noise, not music. even the ever anorexic celine can't hold a candle to barbra.

babs has been in my life since i was 19 years old. almost 50 years of babs and i never tire of hearing her sing.

i'm wistful today.

i'll be back.