Have you ever wished you could invite your favorite singer or actor to dinner? How about your favorite author? Which three famous people would you invite to dinner?
I have many people I wish I could have dinner and conversation. If I can only choose three, I would invite author Jodi Picoult, singer/actor Jon Bon Jovi, and singer/actor Rick Springfield.
First invite to dinner
I loved Jodi Picoult’s book, My Sister’s Keeper. I was disappointed when the movie came out as its ending was different than the book’s. For one summer, I borrowed more of her books from the local public library.
Keeping the Faith was good, but not one of my favorites. I enjoyed The Pact and Nineteen Minutes the most. Handle With Care taught me about a disease I didn’t know about and broke my heart at the same time. This book gave me inspiration for one of my books.
The point to know is I love how she writes her books about real life and about family situations. This is why I chose to write women’s fiction. Inviting Jodi to dinner would make my evening. Chatting with Jodi about how she gets ideas for her books and how she researches the topics she uses would be such a great conversation.
Second invite to dinner
Back in 1986 I started enjoying a great rock ‘n’ roll called Bon Jovi. I bought every cassette until CDs became an item. All of these years later, those Jersey boys are still rocking and touring.
Inviting the lead singer, Jon Bon Jovi, would give me the opportunity to tell him how much he and the band have meant to me over the years. I’ve been lucky and gotten to see the band five times with the last time being in 1995. I’m way overdue to see them, but they’ve never been close to where I live.
Chatting with Jon would allow me to say, “Thanks for giving me songs that I could relate to and that helped me get through some rough spots in my life when not much other music spoke to me at that time.”
Third invite to dinner
Before Jon came along, Rick Springfield was the singer and actor I admired the most. The summer of 1981 I was 12 years old and fell in love with Dr. Noah Drake on General Hospital. I tried my hardest not to miss an episode. I also loved the song, “Jessie’s Girl,” and when I made the connection that Noah sang the song in real life, that made my love for him even better.
Once school started in the fall, I hurried off the bus so I could catch the last half hour of GH. Rick continued releasing albums while on the soap opera until he left the show in early 1983.
His music continued speaking to me. The more he recorded and released the more his music meant to me. I’ve seen Rick eight times in concert. I got to meet him backstage in July 1999, but I didn’t get to speak to him. He had hurt his vocal cords so he was only able to sing his short set and sign autographs backstage.
I was so nervous anyway I’m not sure I would have known what to say. But if I could sit down with him, I would love the chance to tell him how much his music has helped me through the ups and downs of my life — even more than Bon Jovi’s music has. I feel a bond with Rick because he and I have both dealt with depression.