Meeting Ice Skater

A long time ago a friend of mine from Cosby told me every now again her and her friend, Tera, used to have dreams at night about each other, on the same night. They'd always laugh and say they were "havin' a meetin'" -- just out of the body and in the dreamworld instead, and it wasn't any less real than in the waking world. Every since then, I've loved thinking that way about dreams.

So, boy, did I have a "meetin'" with The Skater, Iliushka last night!

I've been working very hard this week on the calendar that his fan club is selling to its members, and either my brain is fully IK images or there was a real meeting of the minds last night.

I got dropped off at his big house for some reason -- and it's loaded with women: the women of his family. His wife, his daughters, his inlaws, aunts (but none on his side). I guess I need reinforcements because Diane and Rick from up north are there too, and somehow keep me grounded. I guess I'm there to do an interview.

"The women" all speak Russian and are milling about all over the place, ready to make a trip to the store or something. It's foggy outside so it's a big to-do with everyone bundling up. It's not quiet at all, but nobody even pays attention that I'm there, both good and bad I suppose. Finally they leave and I'm left in the house with him, my friends watching TV with and his four-year-old daughter.

We really get to hang then, and the guy is both laughing and complaining, just like old times at the rink. How he feels he's never left Russia now, how he regrets not being able to discover the America he's always dreamed of...when he came to L.A. to be an actor and a star, right after he won his Gold Medal...

That was a long time ago that we could hang and talk like that. I know he has a life he loves, with all the women of his life. But after tonight's dream, I can't help thinking about that road of his less taken.

And selfishly, maybe we would have had many more heart-to-hearts after the practices at the rink. I miss those.