Lei Lady
I have a friend—let’s call her Jeannie. Now Jeannie, like many of us, has a hobby. No, she doesn’t collect stamps or write poetry. Jeannie’s hobby is David Cassidy. Cassidy, you may or may not recall, is the former teen heartthrob and member of the 1970’s television singing group The Partridge Family.
Today David Cassidy is 57 years old and appears periodically in performance venues around the country. The songs Cassidy sings may change, as does the location of the concerts, but one thing remains constant: Jeannie is always there for the show. And so is her lei.
About ten years ago Jeannie decided that she would present a flower lei to David Cassidy during each of his performances. And we’re not talking about some inexpensive ring of dried carnations or, heaven forbid, a string of plastic flowers. No, for each concert Jeannie orders a fresh lei made up of the most beautiful and fragrant orchids flown in directly from Hawaii. She first bestowed a lei on Cassidy over ten years ago, and recently traveled across the country to give him #38.
Jeannie always gets excellent seats for these concerts, and so is only a few steps from the stage when it comes time to give her gift. Cassidy for his part is always obliging, bending down so Jeannie can place the lei around his neck. The rewards vary: sometimes Jeannie receives a smile from her idol, while other times she shares a hug or even a kiss with the performer.
Over the years others have tried to imitate Jeannie by coming up with unique items to give to Cassidy. Some have given him an item they knitted or a specific stuffed animal. But so far nothing has caught on except for Jeannie’s leis and she has become something of a minor celebrity, at least among the David Cassidy crowd.
Jeannie has photographs of David Cassidy wearing each of the leis she has given him. She has met with him several times and is on a first name basis with most of his band. She has traveled extensively in order to attend the concerts, which has allowed her to broaden her horizons by seeing parts of the country and meeting people that she would never have known existed. All this because she one day decided to give a necklace of fresh flowers to her musical hero David Cassidy.
Now that’s Flower Power!
