Dove & Janet's Story

     I know many people dream of meeting their favorite stars, and a few of us are lucky enough to make that dream come true. This is the day it happened to me and my sister...

    It was at the Rocky Autograph and Memorabilia Show which was held at the Old Tucson Studios in Tucson, Arizona on June 14th and 15th 1997. The fourteenth was a Saturday and the busiest day. Johnny was not able to be there until Sunday which was also Father's Day. There was a much smaller crowd that day and by the time we got there at 4:00 in the afternoon, there were very few visitors left.
    The day we met Johnny we had not been out of the house for months due to taking care of mama. She had recently had brain surgery for a tumor and we almost lost her then. She insisted my sister Janet and I go to Old Tucson to see Johnny. We had grown up with him on tv, and mama knew how much we wanted to go. We got someone to stay with her just long enough for us to go see him.
    As soon as we arrived, we walked into the room searching for Johnny, but were so disappointed to find he was not at his table. Don Collier of the High Chaparral saw us and said he just went to grab something to eat and would be back shortly. Just about that time Johnny came into the room with a big plate of BBQ ribs. He immediately saw us and said, "Hello. How are you two ladies?" We were so happy he came back. We told him we would wait until he ate but he said not to worry, that he wanted to talk with us. We did talk!
    We talked about all the albums he has made, all of his movies we have seen, and of how long we had been collecting things about him. From the time we were just kids, we had been collecting. We talked about the Mickey Mouse club, and of course The Rifleman! He talked some about his horse. Janet and I asked about his brother Bobby and Johnny said he was doing very well. We mentioned Chuck Connors and he said Chuck was a very good friend and he still missed him and it doesn't seem like he's gone. Johnny asked us if we had met Chuck, but we hadn't. When we mentioned we are originally from Alabama, Johnny said he had a good friend from Alabama while he was in the service.
    We recalled many of the old movies that were made in Tucson, including El Dorado, which Johnny was in with John Wayne in 1965. Johnny told us John Wayne had given him his own chaps. They were ones John Wayne had worn in a previous movie. We were all having such a good time and laughing. There was no security there so everyone could just be themselves. He was so courteous and impressed with all the albums and photos we had brought for him to see. Johnny was so excited when he saw all the stuff we brought for him to sign that he was yelling over to the High Chaparral people, "Look! They have all my albums!", while he was holding them up. Then he would yell, "Look! They have... " (we had dozens of pictures, magazines, posters, lobby cards...) The High Chaparral gang kept shaking their heads and laughing at him. We told him about all we had at home that we could not bring. He was so excited.
    I get teary eyed thinking about how he looked so happy, like a kid on Christmas day. It made you feel so good when he reacted so happily about everything. It was as if we knew him all the while and we felt right at home. He talked with us over an hour or so and we thoroughly enjoyed it! It was nice that there wasn't a big crowd demanding his time.
    We had talked so much that he still had not really eaten. We broke off the conversation because we knew he was hungry and he had been there all day. He signed everything we wanted. We told him it was a pleasure to meet him and hugged him goodbye. We went across the room to see a couple of other stars there. We met Beverly Washburn, Sue Ann Langdon, and Don Collier. Everyone there just had a great time. It was like being at home with family. It was a day we shall always treasure. The gentleness and earnestness in the way Johnny related to us will never be forgotten.
    We had had some pretty rough times the months before due to our mother's illness. This was the first time we had been able to really enjoy being with someone, especially with Johnny! He is truly a treasure and I hope many people get the chance to meet him. By the way, he loves his band and loves to talk about it! May God bless Johnny, who never grows tired of treating a fan the way a fan should be. He is a very special person and it always makes you feel good in your heart to meet someone you thought was that way and find they really are. It was a beautiful day on the outside, and also a beautiful day on the inside thanks to Johnny!