In my years of doing radio I have had the opportunity to to meet almost all of my music heroes and get a quick picture with them.  It is commonly called a Meet & Greet.  You don't hang out, you just get a photo, autograph, say hello and move on about your business. 

I have hung around and met some great artists that truyly meant a lot to me.  Aerosmith, Kiss, Van Halen (with Sammy Hagar) Bob Seger, Kid Rock, Ted Nugent, DMC of Run DMC,  and the list goes on and on.

Those Meet & Greets pale in comparison to the M & G I had this past Saturday Night.

Every weekend, I have the privelege of getting new motorcylce from Kegel Harley Davidson, so I hopped on the 2012 Road King and headed south on I-39.  I was just north of Bloomington Normal when I hit a real bone jarring bump.  The saddle bag flew open, I pulled over, glanced to make sure everything was there and then went on my way.

I got to my hotel and thought I should go get cleaned up before my big meeting.  That is when I realized what I had lost.  My glasses.  If you know me, I can't see without glasses, I would be stuck all night with my sunglasses.

One of the big reason I have always wanted to meet the woman that gave me life, is I wanted to hear the words "oh he has your eyes"  The eyes have always been important to me.  So to show up with sunglasses would mess with that.

I walked into the Hilton Garden in in Springfield IL around 7:30 pm not knowing what to expect.  Unlike other meet and greets, there were no excited fans, there were no lines, no posters to be autographed and no annoying security guards.  This was a meet & greet that was between 2 people.  1 person that had waited his whole life to meet the other.  1 person who had met the other when he was very young. 

At 7:32pm on June 23, 2012 I met my mother for the first time. I walked directly up to her and gave her the hug I had been imagining.  Just like the one that Julius gave to Gary's mom in the movie Remember the Titans. It was exactly what I had hoped would happen.  After the hug, the next words were "Take off your glasses"  AS I took them off, I heard words that I had never ever heard.  "He looks exatly like Bob"  From what I could gather "Bob" must be a damn good lookin fella! I look forward to meeting him and other members of my new found family. 

We spent the next 3 and a half hours just sitting and talking.  I was asked not to put my glasses back on.  So I didn't really get to see much.    Sunday morning we spent a few more hours together having breakfast before heading out.

I can't begin to put the feelings into words.  There are no words to describe what I have felt or am feeling. 

Happy could be a good word to start with

Here is a photo of me (sans glasses) and my mother Rosalie