A story about a chance meeting with Andy Gibb by Michelle Johnson
OK, so it’s June 11th, 1983 and I lived in Southern California at the time…about 75-80 miles south of Anaheim, which is where Disneyland is located. It was my 17th birthday… and so my mom, my sister and her friend and I head to Disneyland. The day is somewhat cooler and overcast, yet fun even though “seemingly” pretty uneventful. So my sister and her friend head off somewhere so it’s just my mom and I walking around when I see Andy Gibb…just walking around with two older women….one might have been his mom, but I didn’t realize that at the time. So I say to my mom very excitedly, “Hey, look over there and tell me if that’s Andy Gibb.” So she looks and replies, “Yes, I think it is.” I beg my mom, because I was really shy when I was younger, to go over and ask him if he’d pose for a picture with me since it was my birthday. My mom said, “Sure, why not.” So I watch her walk over to him and start to speak with him and then notice him walking back with my mother!
Now bear in mind, I was a pretty big fan of his when I was an adolescent (the late 70’s) and to see Andy Gibb walking with my mother towards me was a huge, heart-pounding deal. The closer he got to me the more I thought I was going to pass out.
So, he and my mom walk back to where I was standing (only about 40-50 feet away from where he had been) and he smiles and says to me in his lovely accent… “Happy Birthday Michelle”….I just about fainted …he was so soft spoken and so incredibly handsome… he posed for a photo with me and then gave me a hug and wished me well. I can still remember it very clearly and it occurred almost 29 years ago.
To hear of his untimely passing five years later was just heartbreaking. Andy Gibb, in my humble opinion, was the epitome of a loving, kind and gentle soul….may he eternally rest in peace.
