With no where to turn, I learned to live with my great loss and simply got up every day and breathed in and out, as much as the landscape of my life had changed. In many ways I felt lost in my own life. I was coping to the best of my ability, even though I carried the grief like a elephant on my back. I tried to thrive and survive in spite of it. I decided to take a job working a few days a week in downtown Beverly Hills, as a bridal consultant for a premiere kitchen store. I needed something to take up the space in my mind. The job was easy and I enjoyed spending time there, where things were hustling and bustling. I worked one block over from Rodeo Drive, on Beverly Drive. Beverly Drive was not quite as high-end as Rodeo, and is where a lot of the locals spent time. I never knew who was going to walk in the door each day but many famous people came and went from that store. I registered the teen sensation, Molly Ringwald, when she was marrying a french writer back then. I helped the R & B artist, Babyface, and his then wife, fulfill a list of special Christmas presents for the holidays. That was an incredible experience for me, being he was my favorite artist for many, many years running. I felt comfortable helping most people, no matter how famous, except him. I had butterflies in my stomach and was nervous as can be. After helping them pick out Christmas presents for their family, I made sure they had everything they needed and right before he left I got up the nerve to say something personal. I knew I would never have this opportunity again. I said, “I just have to say, you are so incredibly talented.” He responded with a kind and humble, “Thank you.” His wife seemed not as appreciative. I can only imagine how many women pine at her husband being a famous R & B singer. However, I was only saying it because he had made such a difference in my life with his music. His music had really touched my soul. I wasn’t attracted to him or anything like that. It was coming from a very genuine place and I believe he felt that. I smiled at his wife for a brief moment apologetically and then said goodbye.
I kind of broke my own rule by doing this. In some ways I felt bad for famous people and knew it must be hard to be out in public, so I never made a fuss and always wanted to give them the respect of space and privacy, knowing how hard and awkward it must be for them. I always wanted to treat everyone the same - not being partial. After all we are all just human beings. That was really the way I was raised. I had always heard the Biblical passages growing up about not giving preference to the man dressed in gold and fine linens verses the poor man in the filthy clothes. To serve all men equally and most importantly for the glory of God, as it talks about in James 2 and 1 Peter 4:11, treating others as though they were Jesus Christ himself. It was important to me to hold close to my faith in a city that was filled with so much worldliness. Faith was not on parade here. Obviously this city was all about fame, money and getting ahead - sometimes no matter the cost. It seemed very glamorous, and in many respects living in Beverly Hills was, but underneath all that glamour it all it felt somehow dirty, shallow and so far from God. Of course my perspective is limited and I am not accounting for the talent involved in many of these people. Many of them had impacted me in movies I had watched and characters they had played. That’s saying something I guess.
I met, and helped, several famous people while I worked there; Annette Bening - Warren Beatty’s wife, Ellen, Sharon Stone, David Schwimmer from the Friends sitcom, and many more. It was incredible to meet these people in person. Some were so much like you thought they would be - others not so much. Some of them looked just like you thought they would - others taller or smaller. Some were super nice and friendly, while others were demanding and used their celebrity to cut in line or get more than what they payed for. That was always disappointing to me. It kept things interesting for sure and you never knew what the day would bring. In my days there Meg Ryan, Whoopi Goldberg, Drew Barrymore, Steve Martin, Billy Crystal, Jodie Foster, and many more walked through the doors. Of course all the employees talked about their experiences with these people, some pleasant, some horrible and some downright unusual.
I remember being shocked at how incredibly small Billy Crystal was..really...shockingly small. I remember Annette Bening and how lovely and down to earth she was with her little girl. She was a delight to work with and very gracious. If I didn’t know who she was, I would have never known she was even remotely famous. I remember how Sharon Stone threw her weight around the store and had her blouse open so much, that you could most certainly tell she was not wearing anything underneath. Yikes. I remember Drew Barrymore waiting for a gift to be wrapped and I was using the desk where she was waiting. I was trying to give her privacy and not make myself obvious so was coming and going to give her space sort of purposely avoiding her. She could tell I was trying to be courteous and spoke up in the sweetest voice, “Hello.” When I looked up at her she had the most beautiful smile on her face and I was genuinely surprised at how lovely she came across, very endearing. Even more so than on screen. She made me feel totally at ease. I remember when Whoopi was there one day and she was cracking jokes in the back of the store and laughing so loud it was contagious. I literally laughed out loud just hearing her. She was hysterical and I didn’t even know what she was saying…even her demeanor was funny. I remember several times having Jodie Foster in the store and she waited around so patiently. Never threw her weight around and never acted famous, not for a second. David Schwimmer was adorable. He had the biggest puppy dog eyes. You wanted to help him before he even said a word. I wasn’t a fan of Friends at the time, even though it was the biggest thing going then. I also remember a very embarrassing encounter with Steve Martin.
We were short-handed during the holiday season so I was asked by the manager if I would be willing to offer a sample of our hot mulled cider to the guests as they came through the door. I wasn’t overjoyed at being put at the front door, usually working behind the scenes for the most part with brides. I wasn’t sure how comfortable I would be, being the first thing people saw when they walked through the door. I thought if I had to, then I would do my very best and practiced very vigorously as the first few guest came in getting over my insecurity. Just as I was feeling confident in my abilities and had found my stride, a gentleman walked in, in a white baseball hat, with his head down. I enthusiastically stepped up and tried to get him to try our mulled cider, as he looked up I realized it was Steve Martin…he gave me this look like “No lady, not even remotely interested and pretend like you didn’t see me, okay?” I shrunk back and was utterly embarrassed Just when I was getting my mojo. I felt like I was ten shades of red. Really….my first encounter with Steve Martin and I was in his face asking him if he wanted mulled cider? Nice.
Having my job in the heart of Beverly Hills made me feel more a part of the community in ways. I worked with some great people there. I needed that connection being I didn’t know anyone in the city, other than my husband, and he was working long days in the movie business. Most of the people I worked with were not from Los Angeles and many were transplants like me. Beverly Hills is such a melting pot of people, from all over the world. When you walked down the street you could hear many different languages being spoken. French, Persian, Spanish, Arabic, Italian, you name it. It was a very cultural place. Being we lived only a few blocks from downtown Beverly Hills we basically had anything within a few blocks. It was the first time I lived within walking distance of a city and I could see where some people thrived on it. Not only did I meet and work with some famous people at my job in town, but I literally went to the same restaurants, coffee houses and boutiques as they did. That was strange I must admit. I would be shopping or eating and they would come in and always garner attention. Most people didn’t make much of a fuss and were used to it, being locals. This was before social media and before we all had a camera in our phones. Occasionally I would see paparazzi in the area waiting on a street corner for someone famous to exit. That was always a big tip off. Many of the stores, restaurants and coffee places had photos of celebrities that visited regularly. Especially the pizza place. Their walls were covered with signed photographs of many of the celebrities that had visited them over the last 20 years, just about anyone you could think of that was anything.
The neighborhoods of Beverly Hills were beautiful and extremely well kept, and even though we lived on a street that was all apartments and condo’s the surrounding streets were mostly homes. They varied from small intimate homes, that looked original to the neighborhood, to giant mansions that had replaced some of the original small homes. Some very ostentatious. The more we lived there the more we saw those original homes being torn down and replaced with big mansions. It was an interesting and beautiful place to live and always something happening. At this time in my life it all was a great distraction, and a welcome one with all that was going on in my life. We had only been there less than a year and it was a whole new world to us - one not fully explored yet. Living and working in Beverly Hills was certainly a unique experience and like nothing I had ever done before. It was sort of unreal actually…like I was in my own movie.
♥️LGOF