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It was everything I'd hoped for and more -- five evenings with Andre Rieu and the Johann Strauss Orchestra! Each one was the same music, yet each so different because you catch all the little nuances you miss in just one concert.

But first, I would like to thank Sonja Harper for emailing me word on July 11, 2004 of the coming concerts this year, especially Kansas City. She had talked to Kerstin the day before at the concert in Kerkrade, NL. Without her information my friends and I would not have known until very much later and probably wouldn't have been able to share the joy of so many concerts together. Neither would I have gotten to know personally Carrie Habib, Executive Assistant to KCPT CEO and Executive Assistant to Chief Development Officer. Carrie was thrilled with the quilt idea and invited me to come to the station when I was in KC last Thanksgiving. I showed her the quilt then, and she was instrumental in planning the  presentation. My heartfelt thanks to her for her help and friendship we now enjoy. Carrie, if you read this, now that things have slowed down, don't forget you promised me a picture for my Andre Friends Wall.
 

All the concerts were incredible, but of course, Kansas City, my home city, will always be special for me. Friends Toots Reeder, from Texas, and Shirley Kirk, and Netta Galardo from Joplin, went with me. And what a delightful surprise to see Andre's busses roll up at the hotel where we were staying. We didn't impose, and went on to get our luggage, but did go back for pictures of those beautiful new buses after they had unloaded. After meeting several friends also staying at the hotel, it was time for the concert. What a concert it was! The music was glorious, the soloists superb, and it was Andre at his best. The audience was very responsive, with many standing ovations and waltzers in the aisles. And that audience, too, immediately rose to their feet for the Alleluia Chorus, and sang America The Beautiful with tears in their eyes. But the Meet and Greet, I will treasure forever. Andre smiled when I greeted him in Dutch I had practiced for months with Sonja's help. When I told him, because of him I had friends all over the world he looked pleased and said, "Good, that's wonderful to hear." I started to tell him that because of him, I had a piano and was playing again, and had finished a composition I'd started years ago. But I was interrupted, not very courteously, by another fan who wanted an autograph, so I left it out. I managed to remind him of what he'd said of the Viennese watching Strauss concerts -- with a blanket to sit on, and picnic basket of cold chicken and lemonade and told him I had a gift for him. I said I had made him a quilt, or what he would call a lapjes dekentje. Again the woman interrupted, and I cut more from what I wanted to say. When I told him in Dutch, he couldn't sit on THIS blanket for concerts with cold chicken and lemonade, he began to smile, then got tickled and put hand to his mouth as he laughed softly and nodded. Then the woman stepped in front of me and handed him her meet and greet pass to sign. Gentleman that he is, Andre took time to sign it. While he was doing that, my friends and I unfolded the quilt and held it open so he could see the whole thing. When he turned back and saw it, his eyes lit up with genuine pleasure. His mouth opened slightly as he realized what it was, and he said in surprise, "Oh, look! You have all the names of the orchestra -- and all the instruments are there. This is wonderful! Thank you, thank you very much!" We folded the quilt and I handed it to him. He smiled broadly, thanked me again, and gave it to a body guard to keep for him through the rest of the meet and greet. Then he went on to others who were waiting. I had perhaps four or five minutes of his time, but those few minutes are mine forever. I will never forget his beautiful smile and laughing blue eyes as he looked at me. Or the touch of that very soft hand as he took mine and thanked me for his gift.

I also got to speak with Susan, Frank, and Rene in Kansas City, and Franco, Carla, and Carmen in Chicago. The orchestra is so warm and friendly to all their fans. I even got a hug from Franco and our picture taken. But the highlight of Chicago came unexpectedly from a chance meeting of the hostess in the hotel restaurant across the street from the Rosemont Theater. Her name is Sunny, she's from Guatemala, and is delightful. She came to our dinner table and talked to us about where we were from and if we were going to the concert. She wanted to go but was working. I asked if she had to work Saturday. She did, but I told her if she could get away, I had a spare ticket I would give her. Sunny was stunned and asked why a total stranger would do this for her. I told her it would go to waste if she couldn't use it, and I wanted the seat to be filled. After talking to her employer she was able to take time enough away to see the concert. She came in a few minutes late and had to leave a few minutes early to go back and close the restaurant. Sunny sat through the entire concert, her eyes glued to the stage in enchantment and wonder. Her face was absolutely radiant with joy and tears frequently rolled down her cheeks. As she left, she stopped and hugged me, and with tears in her pretty brown eyes, she said "I can never thank you enough, and you're right - I'm hooked." What a wonderful warm feeling it is to know you have given something precious to someone. This must be what Andre feels each time he performs.

Cleveland and Cincinnati, too, came and went, and with them more memories to treasure.

Front row center seats that allowed us to see, up close and personal, every smile, every lifted eyebrow, and endearing gesture Andre made, and those shining blue eyes that spoke of love for music and his audience. In this one week, I met in person many dear friends who I see in the pictures on my wall; Barb and Geoff Wilson, (keep dreaming Barb) Laurie Crowley, Trudy Klapperich, Maryann Hamer, Thelma Bigley, Nancy Barnes and her friend Linda from Canada, John and Bobbie de Jong, Elieen Olin, Carol Gazzola, Linda Stinner, and of course, my "personal publicist" Sally Chaney. Now they're real -- warm, wonderful friends who are a lot of fun and a joy to know. I also met new ones, Dan (the Banner Man) and Alice Lycan, Rosalind Ramirez, Beverly Treichel, Kay Newton, Debbie Clark, Craig and Barb Conroy, Margaret and Leona Ellerby, Sunny, Paul and Beth, (those last names escape me just now, but I have Sunny's business card and will get the other names from Sonja.) And last but not least, I got to spend time with Sonja and Sigrun again, and to meet Sonja's two beautiful little granddaughters, her lovely daughter, Tamara, and her delightful mother, Lyda Huisert, and also my newest friend, Thea Buys, from Holland, who has a very special place in my heart. The picnic in the park on Friday was fabulous! About twenty people were able to make it, and we had great fun talking and getting to know each other. Craig Conroy brought ball caps and we all signed them for each other. My deepest thanks to Sonja for arranging this, for getting us such great theater seats, for opening her home and her heart to all of us, and making my "Andre vacation" the best it could possibly be.

But the bottom line is, I wouldn't have these beautiful memories if it hadn't been for Andre Rieu. Without him, I wouldn't have these, and my other Andre friends I hope to meet someday in person also. They all are wonderful, caring people who think not of themselves, but of others and they have enriched my life beyond measure. And last, without Andre, I wouldn't have a trip to Holland to look forward to where I will meet another special friend, Janny van Wingerden, and see the homeland of our beloved Maestro. I will be forever grateful to him for making it all possible.
 

Maggie Worman