Hello! sorry this is late…I got home very late Sunday morning from NYC and had to work yesterday. I know how much I look forward to and appreciate those of you who share your encounter stories here. I hope I don’t disappoint anyone with mine.
Sam did an excellent job of describing the general feel of the events.
You definitely need “courage and fortitude” and a strong faith in your intuition for these things. I’m so glad we went, and stuck it out though.
OK, I’ll just start……….
We were aware that Johnnys limo was waiting on the street, so we figured that as long as that limo was waiting for him…so were we! lol!
Around 12:30- 1:00 am…the limo suddenly started up and screeched down the street, past us…and into the parking garage.
There were shouts of “Oh Sh*t” from some cars parked on the street, that had been full of Autograph hounds as they must have been caught off guard and had to scramble for their pics and cameras….that was pretty funny.
Everyone took off running for the garage…..Sam, Michael and I were separated and went in different directions once inside the garage. I kind of lost them once we were inside. It was well lit, but eerie, as I did’nt see many people. I had just gotten there myself, I guess I was one of the first in, which was lucky because I never would have stood a chance if it were just a few seconds later.
I saw the limo…they hotel staff were busy throwing luggage into it. I walked up to it, but Johnny was not inside. More people had arrived inside the garage by now, and everyone was milling about, looking for Johnny.
Then I heard someone yell “He’s coming out of the door”…I looked to my immediate right…and there was the door!
It was up on a concrete landing 3 or so feet off the floor, with a railing around the landing. I still have no recollection of how I did it, but somehow I got up onto that landing “quick like a bunny”.
Before I knew it, there I was, right in front of the door.
It was a big, heavy revolving door….I saw an older man coming through, then looked into the following compartment…AND THERE WAS JOHNNY!!!! lol!!!
Oh man!! He looked striking! His skin was very pale, no facial hair at all… his lips were red…and he was wearing all black, including a Black Fedora.
I got my beloved Dead Man book ready, turned to the page I would ask him to sign. I thought this was going to be one of those “special, personal Johnny moments”.
Johnny looked out, stepped out of the door…and all Hell broke lose.
I was still right in front of him….but suddenly, it was as if piranhas had been dropped from the sky. I had no idea where all of these people had come from. While we were standing those many hours outside the hotel, there were at most 20 people at times…. including only a handful of fans.
I was buried under a sea of arms, cameras and glossies of Captain Jack, which at any other time, might have been something I would have liked, hehehe!!
Sam mentions how relentless the Autograph hounds were….it’s true,
I’ve been in crowd situations before…but this was scary. They were right in Johnnys face the whole time….demanding from him ” Johnny Johnny sign this sign this”. I don’t know how Johnny keeps his composure in these situations. Just another reason I was in awe of him on this day. Again, Sams description of him was perfect….He did move fluidly….As I watched him begin to sign the glossies…I thought he must have to switch on his auto pilot…his signature for these was mechanical…he moved from picture to picture, not speaking.
Anyway, then I remembered my book…..even though I was technically right in front of Johnny, I was sure he could’nt see me, because of all of the chaos and the fact that I’m much shorter than anyone else there at that time. I could’nt move, and I was being swallowed up by this crowd.
I was standing less than 2 feet away, but getting buried in the crowd…and I could’nt bring myself to yell at him. I just turned my head in his direction and said “johnny, could you please sign my book”….nothing……….I was thinking ” oh my god, this is ridiculous, He’ll never hear me in the midst of all this”. Then I heard him turn to a man he was with …a body guard maybe? and he said “…….something about a book”…I could’nt believe it, did he hear me???!
So I said again ” Johnny could you sign my book please?” and I held the book up…..out towards his general direction……But then, my heart dropped….he looked different, he dropped his “signing” arm and looked like he was finished…like he had enough, and I would’nt have blamed him…it had been grueling so far.
He held up his hands and firmly said ” this isn’t working guys….you’ll all have to move back, this is a really bad angle” and started gently moving the hounds pictures aside……and I realized that he was looking out for me!!!!!!!! He must have seen me after all! The next thing I knew, there he was in front of me, nothing in my way and he was looking right at me lol!!!
It was at that moment that every thought I’ve ever had in my whole life left my head….anything I wanted to say to him…my name….my marital status….lol!!! everything!
All I could do was smile and say “hi” lol!!!! and you know, this is right about when the slow motion thing kicks in.
He makes you feel like you are the only one standing there with him…*sigh*
He said ” ohhhhhhh….you’re so patient”…and I held my book for him to sign. My hands were shaking just a little, but He was so sweet…..he actually took time to look at the book…and to care about where he would place his signature.
The funny thing was, I had planned to ask him to sign in a certain spot….but I forgot about that…Johnny signed in the exact spot I had hoped he would, without my having to ask him.
He is so special. The crowd started to surge and shout again….all I could manage to say while he was signing was ” thank you so much Johnny”…….and he said “you’re welcome Darlin” while he smiled and looked at me….and then the chaos was back in full force, but I could get out this time. I left to get to the outside of this cluster.
Looking at the situation from the outside was sickening…it truly looked like they were feeding off of him….they surrounded him and all you could see was the black fedora as his head was down the whole time signing. I felt awful for him. I ran around the crowd, looking for Sam….by this time Johhny was very near the Limo….I saw Sam on the other side of the crowd, I hoped that she had her chance too.
Then I found Michael, who told me about the t-shirt.
Michaels such a good guy…everybody loves him, he can talk to anyone and he’s so down to earth.
Michaels account of the t-shirt signing ” Johhny said “ooohhh niiiiiice”…in a real Johnny Depp voice…do you know what I mean”….hahah!! Are you sure you’re not a closet Zoner Michael?? Yeah honey, I know whacha mean lol!!!!!
SO ladies….while standing there, I had plenty of time to INHALE…but sadly…. I have nothing to report…sorry. I think I’ll just have to get a little closer next time heeheh!!
He was beautiful as always………………………….like an angel………….He was not wearing any glasses of any kind, so I got to experience the full intensity of his
amazing caramel colored eyes………..you want to stay there, to linger
in them for a while.
I was floored by him ….by his genuine caring and concern. There is something overwhelming and undefinable about him, I felt so safe with him.
I can only imagine what a good father he is.
I’m glad I was there… I hope he saw me as a fen….I wish I had said more, but it’s OK….there’s always next time.
I’m also happy there are people like Angie, and Really and AnaMaria…and Sam…and everyone here..everyone who truly loves him and lets him know it.
He’s so worthy of our respect and admiration.
Thanks for letting me gush!
