My fascination with General Hospital began on  April 1, 1963, day one of its broadcast.  Grandma Rose was living with us at the time and I was home from school. This show became OUR show!! GH was the first soap opera on our ABC-channel 7 back in NYC. I fell in love with Angie and Eddie, Lucille and Jessie and of course the heart throb Phil Brewer. I looked up to Dr Hardy and believed he was my role model. What a wonderful show!!

   This was the very first soap opera to capture my attention. However with no VCRs , soap magazines, or virtually any "inside" information about this show, I was anxious to know what was going to happen next. Frankly I miss those days of not knowing what is going to happen. If I could I would rather watch it as it happens.

  The show aired just as school was released for the day. My school was too far away from our apartment for me to get home in time to see even the last 5 minutes of the show. So I relied on Grandma Rose to keep me updated..Through the years GH has been my #1 soap even though I have watched others. Today, I am only able to watch General Hospital.  I don't have time for the others..but I make time for GH. 

   Through the years I have been fortunate to enjoy many of the characters on General Hospital and the actors who portray them. They make my day complete. Even though I am blessed with a family of my own, I look forward to spending every day with the characters of GH .

   I have been privileged to meet most of the wonderful actors of the General Hospital cast. They have been nothing short of gracious. They were everything I imagined and more!!!  I have gone to the GH FAN CLUB LUNCHEONS and its has been a very neat experience to meet the actors as well as the loyal fans of this show.

   Through an extremely lucky situation, I met an incredible mentor and friend, Jim Warren, I have gotten the opportunity to help answer fan mail for certain actors on the show. There are not enough words to express my gratitude to this man for making my dream come true. Again through this incredibly amazing man, I also became the president of the Maurice Benard Fan Club.   Imagine me, this housewife, who loved the soaps more than Prime Time TV or the movies, fortunate enough to get this position. Imagine me, finally feeling like I am a part of show business!  I adore networking with people and get some certain perks that I never expect is nothing short of magical!! There are many times I have to pinch myself to make sure this is really real!!

   I have been to the Emmy awards in 1997,2000 and 2006.  I have been a faithful supporter of the General Hospital weekend since 1990. I began a tradition of going to the Soap Opera Digest Awards in 1998. Unfortunately, that tradition seems to have ended.  I believe I am truly blessed to have a wonderful life via the soaps and a magnificent life with my family.  

  I think having this "job" makes people think that I lunch each weekend with one of the stars of General Hospital. I find  that assumption extremely interesting. As much as I am treated very well when I am in LA, I do not get to wine and dine with those whom I work. People have asked me why I do what I do. My answer is usually the same. I love what I do. I can work a computer and why not do this? I was lucky enough for this job to fall in my lap. Granted I tow the line and continue to make it happen. I love meeting people and there is nothing more exciting than during a soap fan event, be it the GH weekend or the Emmy etc meeting a soap fan virgin. Seeing it all through the eyes of a new bee is very humbling. Last year. the cast of Carpool guy came to Las Vegas. One of the ladies who went with us to see the movie and meet the stars had never met Tony Geary. She had met all the others during the GH weekend but since TG has never attends that event, it was an absolute treat to see him in person. I couldn't agree more. This lady is approximately my age, (which isn't young <G>) cool as a cucumber and not a stalker. She waited to meet Mr G. During this event, there were many rules and regulations about taking a photo with the celebrities. It appeared to me that the organizers of this event wanted the fans to purchase the photos taken with the celebrities off the Carpool web site. However one of the other ladies in our group asked Tony to take a photo with this lady and her daughter and of course he did.  If you've ever met Tony Geary, you will agree he is a very classy man. Not only did this woman use this photo for her holiday cards but I witnessed her overwhelmed with tears finally meeting Tony. Watching her reaction, made me react with some happy tears and goose bumps. This is what it's all about. A fan helping a fan. Or shall I say a friend helping a friend. 

I've been at fan events where people are pushing and shoving and showing their 900 photos to the actor while the others behind the fan are extremely unhappy. I've been to events where people were yelling and screaming and literally stepping on people's toe to get ahead. And my all time favorite is the gal, who has been to the General Hospital FC luncheon, who has gone as many years as I have,  who stepped in front of everyone to take her photo. I have the back of her body in most of my photos.  

For as many times as I have been at a Fan Event, and mind you I LOVE BEING IN PHOTOS, I am the last one to take a photo with the celebrity. It's not fair to those who have not had as many privileges to see her/his favorites in the past. I always believed that there might be one or two who have saved her/his money for 5 years and this is their only moment to meet..... fill in the blank.

I do not believe in the competition of whom met whom and/or how many times and who believes the actor know me (or any one else) personally. Life is too good to waste it on hate and competition. I absolutely take issue on those who believe they own that celebrity or that celebrity owes the fan something. If one has paid for a show, that's all the celebrity owes is a good show. 

Sharing an opportunity is so much easier and better than being selfish.

So whether you are going to SSW or shopping for your loved ones during the holiday season, please remember that paying it forward is more rewarding than not.