My Bette Experience by Mariana

This Summer vacation, I realized one of my dreams: I went to the US, to see Bette.

As my family and I never went there, we decided to visit New York, LA and Vegas.

Six days in the Big Apple, two in LA (where I saw Bette’ star at the Walk of Fame :D) and the last stop: glamorous Vegas.

It was a dream! All the lights, the hotels, the living”¦a completely different world to me. We went by car from LA, and we arrived at Vegas around 9 pm on the 21st of August. The 22nd was the big day. I took my red dress, brought a necklace at Caesar’s for $20 especially for the show, and at 7:20 I was already seated inside the Colosseum.

After a picture was taken with my sister and my brother in law, I was so nervous and so anxious for the show to start”¦then, the initial sequence began. The video was hilarious! The Harlettes hit the stage and then, from behind a pile of bags and luggage”¦there she was. More amazing than ever. I just couldn’t believe I was finally there, seeing my idol. I started crying, and I couldn’t stop for the entire show, either for laughing hard with her jokes, or for crying with her spectacular ballads.

(Sister, Brother-in-law, and Mariana)

After the show, I decided to wait for her. I promised myself that I would try everything to meet her, and so I did. With my eyes red from crying so much, and holding the show program against my heart, I stood there.

Suddenly, my mom, that was feeling a bit ill for the past days, almost faints. I was completely divided. Worried with my mom, nervous if I would succeed in my mission of meeting Bette”¦It was such a mix of emotions: a very confronting and emotional night. The security guards arrived like a minute later (very helpful), called the paramedics, and after a few minutes, she went to the hospital with my dad.

I stayed with my sister and brother-in-law. We waited, waited, waited”¦I saw several of the dancers, the musicians, people from her crew”¦it was almost 11 pm, when I was about to leave, a man (an Asian man with glasses) gets out of the Colosseum, notice me and asks:

– “Excuse me, are you waiting for someone?

– “Well, I was waiting for Bette” ”“ said I.

– “Bette doesn’t come out through these doors; I don’t want her to do that. She already left through the garage” ”“ he answered.

We thought: well, it’s probably a very important person from her crew.

“If you want, you can give me your show program, your name and I can give it to Bette to write a personalized autograph for you” ”“ he offered.

I immediately said yes! I wrote on a piece of paper “Mariana, from Portugal” (hoping that she would miraculously remember me from the letters I sent,” it’s not every day that she receives a letter from a 16-year old girl from Portugal”- I thought) and gave it to the man.

(The Program)

“Bette will probably sign this tomorrow, so on Monday I’ll leave this at the tickets office, go there and pick it up”.

We thanked him, and returned to the room.

On Monday, we went there, and a very nice lady (from France, she told us), gave us this book:

The man we talked with was in fact Bette’s road manager, and he told the lady that Bette didn’t have time to do a personalized autograph”¦.so, the solution was for me to leave my name and address and they would send me another book with the personalized autograph. So sweet! I accepted the offer, of course”¦but it wasn’t enough.

I asked the lady if it was possible to leave a rose to her”¦I couldn’t, for security reasons. “And a note?” ”“ I asked. “I think a note is ok, there’s no problem” ”“ she answered. So she gave me a paper, a pen, and I wrote what I would have said to Bette if I met her: how much she meant to me, how much she helped me in tough times, and how much she was a role model to me.

I left Tuesday at 8 am. I cried, cried, cried”¦not only for leaving my parents there (my mom had an infection, and had to stay at the hospital), but for knowing that it was the end of my opportunity.

My parents arrived Saturday. Everything was fine, and I returned to my regular life”¦but my mind was still there with her. I felt so secure, so safe in Vegas. It is strange, right? I loved it, and if I could, I would have stayed there.

Today, 9th of September, I woke up at around 10 am. Suddenly, the postman rang. “I’m going up, I have a package for you””¦my heart started beating so fast”¦ Could it be?

And it was. A white envelope. And inside, this book with this sweet autograph:

Once again, I started crying. I think I never cried so much than this summer vacation!

“For the Beautiful Mariana, With love + gratitude, Bette Midler”

(The Autographed Program)

She was so sweet, she surely read the note”¦I was speechless, and I still am every time I look at this.
My hope now is that she comes to Europe. London, Paris”¦wherever she goes, I will try to see her. I have to try again, right? 😉

And this is it. My story at Vegas, my mission to see our wonderful diva. Hope you all liked it =)

Thank you for reading, and I’m sorry for any mistakes xD

Mariana