What shapes a person's personality?
There are many events in a person's life which affect him for years to come.  There are certain events  which he remembers, events which in and of themselves do not carry much meaning, but linger in the mind, only to come back from time to time. 

Infatuation With a Star

Has there ever been a celebrity in your life who was just so perfect your thoughts kept turning toward him or her?

When I was in 8th grade, (You'll notice that my stories seem to come from the pre-teen and early teen years. Is there something to that?), I had a friend who shared my interest in Hayley Mills. She was the most perfect person we had ever seen. We saw her movies and listened to her song - "Let's Get Together".

I was much of a follower, not a plotter, but my friend - he was one who  had a much more devious mind than I. He had a great plan which I eagerly followed. And of which I told no one! Hayley was the daughter of the actor John Mills, who happened to be in a New York City production. He wouldn't come all the way to New York without his daughter, would he? But where would he stay? Probably the Waldorf Astoria...

And so we talked. Washington's birthday was coming up - no school. I'd sleep over at Dave' house the night before, we'd take a train to New York City, go to the Waldorf, and find her.

I don't remember the train ride from Paterson, nor much else of the trip. I do remember the Waldorf. I was dressed in grunge 30 years before grunge was popular or even acceptable. What a beautiful place. High ceilings, chandeliers. I felt a little out of place. Would anyone notice us? Now that we're here, how will we find her? Just go ask at the desk?

Almost. We went to the registration desk and asked if a John Mills was registered there. Yes? What is his room number? 817? Thank you. It was all too simple. Okay, let's take the elevator to the 8th floor. Do we dare knock on the door? We didn't have to - the door was open. We would have done better if the door was closed - then we could at least knock. We just didn't have what it takes to walk into an open room - with no - place to knock. So close, and yet so far away - I know what that means!

Back down to the lobby. What to do next. Just leave? No - we've come to far and have too much invested in this venture. How can we see her? That's it. We'll pose as reporters for our school newspaper. We've been sent to interview Hayley Mills. Front Page article and all. How could any star miss an opportunity like that.

We didn't have to wait too long to give it a try. A nice gentleman employee of the Waldorf approached us. "Can I help you?"
"We're here to interview Hayley Mills for our school newspaper - she's in room 817. Can you get her for us?"
"Is she expecting you?"
"I don't know for sure."
"Let's check it out."

He took us back to the reservation desk, where we talked to another nice employee and told him our tale of how disappointed our classmates would be if we came back without an interview. (Actually neither one of us was with the school paper. In fact, neither one of us had pen, pencil or paper along to take notes). This gentleman went to the phone and called, and talked for several minutes - never taking his eyes off us, and with the other gentleman standing by our side. He finally got done and came back. Sorry, he said, they are not granting any interviews.