Nobody else was there in the way of dancers or family.
Against my deepest trepidations ( I always wanted to use that word in a sentence), I decided to go back to the studio today.
I had mentioned how I asked her to say hello to Alizee America and I had screwed up and it didn't get recorded. That was a very big regret for me because I filmed her when she was signing the autographs and she was busy attending to that chore, but you don't really see then the beauty that comes out when she smiles. It's just a game changer.
But most people here said I shouldn't go back and as depressing as that was, I decided not to go back.
But yesterday I got an e-mail from Ghislain Rossi who runs the AIFC Facebook page. AIFC is one of the biggest if not the biggest FB pages out there. He asked me to get an autographed picture for him and for the members of AIFC.
Now Edsel can correct me if I'm wrong, but I think he said a couple of weeks ago that the AIFC site was in danger of shutting down. Now that might not surprise me because I have known Ghislain for years and it wouldn't be the first time he's talked about shutting the site down.
So I saw this getting of a couple of autographed pictures for them as a big opportunity to keep that site going.
Even so, I was still troubled in doing this, but then I realized that when I left an order for some shirts the other day, though I had given her my physical address, I did not give her an electronic device for us to communicate by. Were we to talk about this order and exchange credit card info via regular mail? So that was the tipping point. So I decided to go back.
Talk about fated. I didn't know the schedule of the studio. I didn't even know if they'd be open or if Alizee would be out of town. But I decided to catcha 4:30 bus. I got there in plenty of time but by 4:45.....no bus. The next bus was scheduled at 4:50.....by 5:00.....no bus. Mean while all these other numbered buses kept coming and going....2 or 3 times for the same numbered bus! I decided to walk down to the next stop. There was a large group of people there, but when other number buses came by, only one or two people got on. The mob was waiting for the 2 bus.
So the 2 bus finally comes along. I got on though there was little room. End result, I wind up getting to the studio just as about 15 people who were standing around outside started going up the stairs with Gregoire!
So I followed the crowd upstairs and there she is.....again! It looked like these people were registering for a class. A couple of people would go up to the counter and sign something and Alizee would give them something in return and then they'd leave.
There came a moment after about 5 minutes where I saw an opening and went up to the counter. Alizee greeted me graciously again. I had a prepared sentence in Frecnh saying I'd be quick "Je serai tres rapide". I told her about the contact address. Then I told her about the two pictures I wanted to get singed for AIFC. I asked her if she knew who they were and she did. Then some more people came in and she asked me to excuse her for 5 minutes. So I stepped back a ways and it was only about 3 minutes before she came out to me ready to say hello to Alizee America again. This time I got it right.....I think.....I'll upload the video in the next several minutes.
Though I think 'maybe' it bothered her at first, it went so quickly, I doubt if she'll remember it.
But if that bus had been on time, I would have arrived there when the studio was closed and they didn't have any sings on the outside, so I probably would have left...
Edit:
I was unable to upload the video to YouTube, so here it is from my drive...
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1s6p...ew?usp=sharing