Maurice’s last Hero Contest Winner

Hello All,

There are no words to describe the excitement when I received the phone call on Friday, June 24^th from none other than the incomparable and indispensible Melissa who told me that my hero story had been chosen and I won tickets to the Sunday, June 26^th 8pm show at Uncle Vinnie’s in Point Pleasant, NJ.  The only thing I could think of at the time was to quote a very astute individual in her own right from the S&B Forum EEEEEEEEEEEEE.  I was asked if I would share my story. 

Edited to add the contest entry letter:

As a child we are all given the impression that heroes were someone like Superman, or an action figure who took on great battles and always won. My hero was always my sister Joanne. She was the one who when our mother died at an early age, made certain that we smiled every day. Just her presence would light up a room. Then six years later, when our father died, it was she who was there for every function, heartbreak, shortage of change, whatever. Nothing was too hard or impossible for her to make better. She gave her all, each and every time. Later when I had my children, they learned for themselves what a hero was to them and again that was their Aunt Jo. Aunt Jo was fun, beautiful, and the world to them as well. She also took on her own battle… with Cancer. Unfortunately that was our hero’s kryptonite. She battled long and hard, but…as we say, we may have lost our hero, but, God and the Heavens gained a new Angel who still is watching over us and to this day still makes certain that we start our day with a smile.

Adding in Maurice & Paula’s reply:

Hello,

     I’m sorry that you lost both your parents at a young age but, God blessed you with a hero like your sister.  We picked your letter as a winner for 2 VIP tickets to  one of the NJ shows.  If you could let me know which show and what time you would like, as soon as I hear from all 3 winners, I will let you know which one will be yours.  Thanks for sharing your story.

Sincerely,

Paula & Maurice Benard

Who wouldn’t jump at the chance to meet Maurice Benard, well I almost didn’t.  I never win anything, ever.  Please go ahead ask the person behind the Lottery counter at my local newsstand, he’ll vouch for that.  However, this “contest” was one that was near and dear to my heart; it involved an essay regarding your Hero.  That was a no brainer for me.  I easily wrote about my sister Joanne who had a significant impact on my life growing up and who was an amazing person and warrior in her own right in life, love and eventually her battle with cancer.  She was and always will be my heart, my strength, and my light and I know she is still watching over me bringing me smiles.  There were so many people who entered this contest and who have that special someone in their life; therefore, I am extremely honored for Joanne’s story to have been chosen.

        

After Sunday evening, my first thought was to hurry up and write everything down before I forgot about the details, but, the selfish person that I am wanted to hold on to it for a little while longer and savor every moment.  This journey began as it has for many other S&B fans.  From the first touch of their hands Sonny and Brenda have been Cosmic and I was hooked like a Marlin on the end of a fishing line.  No matter how I fought they continued to reel me in with every look, every caress, every kiss, until I couldn’t fight it any longer.  I was a goner.   We are all well aware of the beauty and pain of this relationship so bringing it up now would only be redundant.  Let’s fast forward to the present. 

My neighbor and friend Tara was my “other” that evening.  She admittedly is not a Soaper nor a GH fan.  Little did she know that for the whole two hours of our commute to Uncle Vinnie’s in Point Pleasant Beach, NJ, I would do nothing but talk about Sonny and Brenda, Maurice and Vanessa, trying to give her a recap from the beginning, middle, and my opinion of what may be the end.  She was a real trooper through it all and listened intently the whole way there with only the occasional interruptions coming from my GPS that I fondly call, Gloria.  (Don’t ask, and don’t judge.)  Finally, we arrived at our destination, according to Gloria, and the third time around the block I decided to ask a very nice woman on a bicycle where Uncle Vinnie’s was and found that it was right across the street.  Once again Gloria was right.  My bad.

I brought a bouquet of flowers for the Benard family, and a small gift for Heather Benard who shared their journey with us, as a very minute way of saying thank you for recognizing my sister’s story and giving me the opportunity to be there.   I placed the bouquet along with my jacket on the table which had a small candle on it and a few seconds later began to admire the aroma of BBQ only to realize that my jacket had caught fire.  Here I was, this close to seeing Maurice Benard and I was about to torch the place.  With the swiftness of my friend Tara who saved the flowers from the same fate I took my jacket to the Ladies room and doused out the fire.  None the wiser with the exception of the waitress and the very nice woman in the Ladies room, the evening proceeded without a hitch.  I went to present the flowers to Paula Benard, who is gorgeous by the way, and she asked if I wanted to go in and give them to him now.  I asked if she was serious and she said sure come on.  (Okay, breathe Barb)  Things went a little blank I admit, and I think I went a little numb when the door opened and there sitting behind a desk, ala Sonny, was the one and only MB himself who stood up and shook my hand.  I now know why VMG’s palms get sweaty.   Oh My God, can I tell you how absolutely gorgeous this man is in person…no I can’t because there are no words.  Tara took our picture and of course my eyes are closed but who cares.

 

I was touched to speak with Paula who actually remembered about Aunt Jo, my sister Joanne.  She mentioned that they were facing a similar situation in their family.  So perhaps we can all remember them in our daily prayers, I know I will.

As with all of the other Meet and Greets, Maurice was introduced and the women went crazy.  He was wearing a green and black striped long-sleeved shirt and a hat.  No guns though, we weren’t as fortunate as you all that got to see them, nor his abs.  He proceeded to speak about the characters giving an impeccable imitation of the girth of Jason, and his hair and then Michael, Carly, Spinelli and of course our Brenda.

 

  The crowd that evening was divided in a three-way by S/B, S/C and S/K fans.  We happened to be next to a table of women who went on for almost 10 minutes about the character of Kate being recast.  I found it very difficult not shout out “who cares,” but, being the polite person that my sister would have wanted me to be, I resisted the urge.  After all, these same women had flyers that they were asking us to sign and were sending to our cable company to save our soaps, so I cut them a little slack.  Graciously though MB fielded each and every question asked and every comment stated with the utmost respect and humor.  He is such a funny person.  Who knew?  Nothing new was discovered that evening with regard to future storylines that has not been covered at the other venues so I don’t have any secrets to reveal, but, did hear first hand that the last scenes with Vanessa were extremely emotional.  I am truly not looking forward to that day.  There will never be anyone for Sonny in my eyes other than Brenda. 

He introduced me as the winner of the Hero contest and at first I wasn’t sure if I wanted to go up to speak, but, given the chance to stand close to him on stage, and once again thank him personally, who wouldn’t.    

The one who stole the show without question was Joshua Benard, who proceeded to sing two songs and rapped the third.  He was also getting acquainted with a very young and very adorable Sonny fan at the back table. Very Cute ladies, watch out, new heartbreaker in the ranks.

 

In all, it was an honor, privilege, and dream come true, to be at the show and meet MB in person let alone having the chance to speak about Joanne.  My heartfelt thanks to the Benard family and again I appreciate this opportunity to share my experience with you and will cherish these moments for years to come.

Respectfully,

Barb Del Regino (BJD4VMG)

A HUGE thank you to Barb for sharing her wonderful story with us and entrusting me with helping her tell her tale. Thank you to everyone who helped make Maurice’s tour such a huge success and a memorable time for all. My story, Barb’s story, your story and someone else’s story could not have happened if it wasn’t first for Maurice finding a way he could connect with his fans.

We all know someone in our lives who is a hero and in return, we can be a hero to someone else and not even know it. We can achieve greatness, even if it stems from a kind word, helping someone with a door, a smile or something huge like being a parent, a donor of some sort or even giving your life so others can be free to live their lives without fear. You never know how we can touch someone’s life and make a difference… All I know is there are special people who change our lives for the better and make an impact that can never be duplicated again.

Thank you again to Maurice Benard, the Benard Family, Melissa and everyone who helped make these events happen!

TTFN xo Ro

Going to GHFCW? Want to see Maurice & Vanessa? Here’s how!

If any of you are interested in going to General Hospital’s Fan Club Weekend and see Vanessa and Maurice here is what you should do: (Click images to make bigger)

They well be appearing at each other’s events, special guests, music, an auction….

Hey, maybe one of you can win something of Brenda’s! (From Vanessa’s Twitter page)

VanessaMarcilGVanessa Marcil G

 

cashmere cardigan with gold sequins Brenda wore for her wedding reception…..jeez its all so girly. let’s see pocket knife and motorcycle?

25 Jun Favorite Retweet Reply

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VanessaMarcilGVanessa Marcil G

 

Brendas wedding shoes………love them, day on set at ABC, My own black buckle strap boots Brenda (and I ) live in…

25 Jun Favorite Retweet Reply

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VanessaMarcilGVanessa Marcil G

 

auction items are coming together for event… Brendas wedding rings (rose gold with diamonds, platinum with diamo http://twitpic.com/5gxbfy

 

If any of you go, have lots of fun and take a ton of pics!

 

TTFN xoxo Ro

Pictures from Maurice’s event 6/26

Thanks to Benal for a few pics of Maurice! xo

Link to blog recap: https://snbgallery.wordpress.com/2011/06/27/my-recap-of-maurices-event/ 

EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE 🙂 xo

My recap of Maurice’s Event

I left my house around 8:30 on Sunday, June 26 to head up to Rutherford, NJ  to meet Maurice Benard, Nathan Parsons and my girls on Twitter. I wasn’t really nervous while I was on my way. I sang along to songs.. really loud, LOL….. and thought about a few of my friends who would have loved to have joined me and who would have made my past year complete in many different ways. It was only once I saw the Renaissance hotel, I started to get a bit nervous.

I arrived at 9:30, unloaded my bag (which had goodies for my girls!)

 Then I went inside and met up with Kammi/Kelly Ann and we put the buttons & post cards in with the magnets I made and off we were down to the event!

I made my way through the lobby and saw Maurice and Paula sitting at a table talking to a few people (not fans). I found the right room to go to and that room was PACKED with Maurice fans. Young, older, men, women… It was a fantstic mix of people! There was a line to buy Maurice & Nathan pictures so I figured I would wait until after the show was over.

 

I found my girls who were all sitting together, looking gorgeous and very excited to be there and finally, I met my #Team! It was surreal to meet the girls I talk to daily and have been talking to for a solid year. It’s funny to me how the internet can really bring people together who wouldn’t normally be able to come together.

Anyway, we waited a few minutes and then it was announced that Maurice was coming out! We were all so excited to see him come into the room and walk up to the small stage! For me, this was my first time to really see a soap star, up close and  in person. I went to the Emmy’s years and years ago but this was different. This was intimate and he was there to meet us, not be at an awards show. Maurice was amazingly good looking, he called himself a “Sexy Son of a Bitch..” LOL His dimples were so sexy and gosh is he one of the finest human beings I’ve ever laid my eyes on! He was gorgeous! By the way, he looks FANTASTIC in black… Just sayin’! He lifted his shirt up once, I tried to capture his abs but my battery was running slow from the amount of pics I was taking. I came home to 362 pictures. 🙂

Maurice told us funny stories, one about Twitter or “Tweeter” as he called it and why he actually got into doing it. He wasn’t interested at all for quite some time but then realized everyone was doing it so he wanted to try it out, too. Once he did he found that he really liked it and even made fun of himself & us while talking about it. He talked to us about Spinelli and how he treats Spin now as someone who is ill, instead of treating him as he had in the past under Guza’s direction. He imitated him a little bit which was super funny.. He says his dad HATES Spinelli. haha He also said that Vanessa would be appearing on The Doctors with Jillian Michaels.

He also spoke about maybe a new pairing, which as a SnBer, its disappointing BUT as he has in the past, Sonny will have to move on. (We lived through 8 years of blech, and we’ll make due for now, too. ) Maurice asked us to support him and we should. We should support Sonny and Maurice. We don’t have to LIKE the pairing by any means but Maurice does deserve to have us behind him, which I am. We know that SnB are endgame and whoever this is in the interim is just filler. (I think everyone should send Maurice fan mail and be positive and nice.  🙂 )

He brought up the girls who won the Hero contest. The one woman has an elderly mom who is need of dialysis and how she inspires her each day and is her hero. The other girl was chosen from Twitter but we never really heard her story. She was cute but shy. Maurice also pulled a girl out of the crowd to show us her Sonny Corinthos shirt, which was very cute by the way! (She even had a SnB pic on the back!!)

Next up, we had the Sonny and Brenda scene. With Sara, he called out a number but this time, he just chose from the audience. Maurice decided it would be perfect if a guy played Brenda.. It was hysterical! The guy was so funny & Maurice could barely keep a straight face. Neither could the crowd! It was so funny and great!

Next up was Nathan Parsons, who by the way is waaaaay yummier in person! When he came down that aisle toward me, to go to the stage, my heart skipped a beat. He is quite good looking! He joined Maurice on stage and the two of them were very comfortable together and had an instant rapport. They had a lot of fun, poking fun at Jason (MB was imitating Jason, who doesn’t say much and works out too much!) and at Michael. He was saying how Michael was Jason’s son now. Nathan told us that his character, Ethan, was 26 to Kristina’s 18. The banter about dating a “daughter” of Sonny/Maurice was funny, too. Maurice told us his daughters won’t date until about 30, get married around 35 and maybe a baby at 40. haha

Maurice answered a bunch of questions, 3 of which came from my #Team! I was so proud of them for being able to have their questions asked & answered. Kelly/Kammi had a good rapport with Maurice and told her he had a connection with her for her first question and he chose her for another question because of their “connection” and her question was Brenda related (which he was very visably tired of commeting on and I don’t blame him) and he said their connection was broken. LOL It was a cute banter they had going and it was just amazing to see how well he could connect with all of us. He answered questions from Hilary, Kelly and Rachel. Everyone was respectful and wonderful. Most everyone had recapped the questions, I think at each show Maurice gets the same exact questions. He did say he wanted us to give a new pairing a chance and to continue to watch the show. TPTB assured him that the show was doing fine and if ratings stay up (which to be honest, GH is dead last in the ratings 😦 ) the show will continue. (Also, apparently, no one told him most of the affiliates dropped GH for next Sept. 2012 for Katie Couric’s show so I’m not sure where they could possibly fit GH unless it’s in the middle of the night..) He also spoke about being bipolar and what Paula has meant to him through everything. You can see how much he loves and respects her. Joshua didn’t come to the show yesterday morning. It was just Paula and Cailey. Joshua and Maurice couldn’t come to terms on payment (haha) so he stayed home for the morning. Cailey joined Maurice onstage 2 times once to ask him a question, the second time to give him the Hero contest winners & to give him the script. Someone had asked Maurice about the family’s animals, someone asked about who is Sonny’s true love (Brenda or Carly).. he said that Brenda was his first true love and he would always be drawn to her & love her. While Carly and Sonny have a connection and share children so that is a special bond, too. He was quite diplomatic about it. He hated the recent car-bomb story where he wound up dirty and with a scratch on his face. He said it was stupid & unbelieveable.

The crowd was, in my opinion, a mix of SnBers & S&Cers. I think there were more of us than of them… I think there were some SKaters there, too.

The show was over after an hour and a half of questions, answers, stories, jokes and all around good time. Next up was the meet and greet.

We were waiting for our chance to meet Maurice and Nathan and we also had a gift & wanted a group picture taken with Maurice but weren’t quite sure how we should go about it. So I asked Melissa, who is awesome by the way and was so nice to meet her after 8+ years of knowing each other, what we should do. It was decided we would all go up at the same time, get our individual pictures taken and then give the gift and have a group shot taken. I have to say that Maurice was very gracious, amazingly handsome & sexy up close! He took my breath away and I was so blown away by his presence. He was so nice to all of us, accepted his gift (which I hope he likes!) and posed with us.

 

The #Team and I then went on to lunch, GUSHING about Maurice, Nathan, the event and talking about the state of the show. We spoke about Vanessa and how sad we are that she is leaving but really, it was so wonderful to meat each of my friends, share a meal & experience like this!

I love each one of my girls and had a blast with all of them… I wish I had more time to spend with each individually and perhaps we will have another get together in September. Maybe we’ll even have more #Team members join us. 🙂

Overall, for my very first soap event experience, this was unbelieveably cool and fun. It was an experience I will always remember and for all the hard work I did over the past year, this was a fantastic pay off for me. It was a dream come true which could not have been better except if a certain incandessant brunette showed up… hehe

Thank you to Melissa who went above and beyond for me, thank you to Maurice and his family for putting out a fantastic show, thank you to Nathan for coming and having some laughs with us and thank you to The Sonny and Brenda Forum for surviving all these years and for being a safe haven to the many  SnBers out there. I wish my original Sneaky Girls could have been with me, just because we’ve been together for so long but I am so thankful for my #Team girls because they are all amazing, fun and wonderful friends for being there with me! It was a fantastic time and I hope everyone who goes to GHFCW has a BLAST, says hi to Melissa, Maurice and Vanessa not only for them but for me, too. I wish I could experience it with my girls who are going but, I am sure they will do me justice with their recaps and pictures.

TTFN xoxo Ro 🙂

LINK to more images: https://snbgallery.wordpress.com/2011/06/27/pictures-from-maurices-event-626/

EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!! 🙂 xo

2 days ’till Maurice!

I’m 2 whole days out until I meet THE Maurice Benard… aka Sonny Corinthos or Nico Kelly (AMC) depending on how old you are and if you go back that far.

I remember when I first laid eyes on Maurice. It was back in the day on All My Children as Nico Kelly. Nico came from almost a similar place as Sonny did and became involved with good girl, Julie Chandler, who was kinda like Karen Wexler.. Anyway, Nico & Julie got married then things went south fast.. After that marriage ended, he became involved with Cecily… They married and had a rocky road of clashing and having a lot of heat & chemistry together. They eventually fell in love and went to Hawaii for a real wedding.. Not sure if Nico & Cecily would still be together now but that little glimpse of Maurice back then for a couple of years was enough to whet my whistle for Maurice.

He then showed up in Port Charles a short time later. He was now Sonny Corinthos. He was a seedy character who ran a strip club.. Seduced Karen, had her popping pills and at that moment not very redeemable… But then something changed. Stone came rolling in off of the streets, Jagger had an instant conflict with Sonny & then Sonny met Brenda. Once Sonny met Brenda and sparks flew, everything changed for not only the character but for Maurice himself.

Maurice OWNED the character of Sonny, became a mega-soap star and a sensation amongst teens & their moms. Plus, he had the hottest girl (Vanessa Marcil Giovinazzo as Brenda Barrett) as the other half of the supercouple he was part of. They together made history and were/are amazing acting partners.

Maurice over the years has been quite open and candid about his bipolar disorder.  He has been through the wringer with this disorder but has gotten through his hard times with his wife, Paula, family friends and fans supporting him. This past January, he was to fly out to the east coast to do a few events but it wasn’t meant to be at that time due to his disorder. He rescheduled his events, tacked a few more on and made his way east with his family to have numerous events for his fans.

So many of his fans have gotten lucky during this tour with surprise tickets, winning the chance to do a scene with him, joking with him, asking lots of questions, posing for pictures and having an amazing time in each location. 2 of my board members/Twitter peeps have been quite lucky. One won a chance to be on stage running lines as Brenda with Maurice. Another just won the Hero contest and just got a phone call that she won tickets to see Maurice @8pm on Sunday. Maurice gives everything his all and it shows through on screen and off. With each plan, for each location, much thought has gone into these events. We are all so lucky to be able to experience this with him and each other. Whether you’re a Sonny & Brenda fan, a Sonny and Carly fan or a Sonny and the rest fan, there is something for everyone at these events. From what I hear, he makes everyone feel welcome and appreciated. I hope he feels the same from all of us. He deserves it.

I’ll update my experience on Monday or Tuesday and I’ll have a special update/recap from my friend, Barb later on in the week. She is the special winner of the Hero contest for Pt. Pleasant, NJ. 

I just wanted to take the time and thank Maurice, his family, Melissa and the club promoters for making this happen. We are all very thankful for this opportunity to meet him & spend a little tim with him, his family and each other.

TTFN xoxo Ro

 

Sara’s Event Experience (recap of Nashville)

Our very own Sara was lucky enough to go to Maurice Benard’s event in Nashville, TN last week. She was kind enough to share pictures with me and to write up a recap of the event she attended.

To start, I am perputually late. By the time I got there, it was going to be exactly 6pm! Luckily, I got a call from Zanies at 5:15 telling me the meet and greet was moved to after the show…whew!

 

Unfortunately, I did not PM Robin until the night before (because I do everything at the last minute), not remembering that she drove from North Carolina the night before and was at her hotel… so I did not get ahold of her before the event. My cousin and I randomly sat down at one end of this long table right by the stage, and at the other end was was this younger woman and her mom. I told my cousin, “I’m going to ask her if she is Robin. If she’s not, I won’t randomly go around the room asking people or anything…” It was a long shot, but it turned out that it WAS! Perfect way to begin the night… S&Bers ROCK!

 

We VERY anxiously awaited. I swear, we could barely even sit still!

 

The event started at 7:30. But no Maurice. The opening act was this comedian, I don’t remember his name-he wouldn’t have been half bad, but we wanted Mo! When he finally came out, it was amazing! Even my cousin (who is nowhere near as hardcore as I am) couldn’t get over how excited she was to see him there! He opened by talking about visiting Graceland– He started with, “Why won’t they let you in the bedroom? It’s because Elvis is alive in there!” It was funnier to us than anything the comedian had said…haha.

 

The contest winner gave a really great speech. She said that father’s day was usually sad for her and her family, but winning this was making this one really different and special. She announced her love for S&B at the end!

 

I asked him if we could buy the honeymoon scenes. He was like, “uh oh, I knew this would come up.” He said he didn’t know why they were cut, that it was good stuff… He really did seem truly upset, kind of ticked off actually, that they were cut.

 

He talked about telling Vanessa before their last scenes that they were NOT going to cry… and they bawled like babies. He said he was crying for like 45 minutes afterwards. “I’ll tell you what, the acting…” (hand over heart) “The acting will break your heart.” Awww. He also said that he and Vanessa have always had a connection. According to Maurice, some of Garin’s stuff WILL make it to S&B at the end…

 

He said that we needed to help him out by suppporting him with someone other than Brenda while she is gone. Some people groaned, some nodded… He was like “Yeah right, I know you guys.” Imitating us, “You’ll be like ‘She’s not Brenda…'” He agrees S&B should always be endgame, though! He wants us to “Just keep watching.”

 

He imitated Jason and his ever-growing arms. He said that Steve will say that they’re not that big and he’s like, “Dude, you can’t even put them flat against against your sides!” Maurice also made fun of the fact that he gets these page long monologues and Steve barely has to act. Steve says, “Jason doesn’t talk.” He also did this really funny imitation of the expression on Steve’s face.

 

He talked about his stalker (shortly). Started it with, “I don’t want to say too much because I don’t want her to come back!” We all laughed. Apparently this woman thought she was Paula Benard and showed up one day to pick up “their” kids!

 

Joshua came out and rapped part of “Love the Way You Lie”–SO funny!

 

One of the funniest parts was when ‘someone’ asked a question. It was “I’m from Memphis, how did you like my city?” I recognized the voice, turned around, and at the table next to me that ‘someone’ was my son’s PEDIATRICIAN! I couldn’t help but yell out, “That is my three year old’s pediatrician! Hey Dr. Sheffield…” Maurice started laughing and said, “Oh no, your son’s pediatrician is visiting Sonny!” When I talked to her later, I found out she is a SCUMMER! Needless to say, I am finding a new one… Ewww!

 

There were just a few scummers there. At one point, one was like, “Aren’t Sonny and Carly due for a roll in the hay?” I just started screaming, “Noooo, BOO!” It was the rabid S&Ber in me… Luckily, the other S&Bers started joining in. Maurice didn’t seem thrilled about the idea of anything happening with Carly, he kind of just brushed it off…

 

He talked about how he likes working with NLG, and after every scene he’ll be like, “That was great stuff.” And she always says “No, I hated it. I suck!” He’s been trying to play scenes with Kristina with a more peaceful father/daughter relationship. He thinks they have fought enough!

 

His daughter came out he told her to randomly pick someone from the audience to do a scene with him. She chose someone way in the back, she was another S&Ber. I love how every person that ended up on stage announced their love for S&B! Maurice did the scene as “warm and charming Sonny” and she couldn’t stop smiling, it seemed hard for her to even speak… and I have to say that I don’t blame her! That caused Maurice, her, and all of us to giggle through the whole thing, I didn’t really pick up on most of what was said in the actual scene because of it, but it was still great. Maurice just KNEW the power he had over this lady and definitely played it up… she loved it! Afterward he surprised the hell out of everyone by announcing that we were going to do it again! I’m pretty sure doing it a second time was not the original plan, but lucky for me Maurice freaking ROCKS! This time he wrote down a number, then told us all to pick one between 1- 20 and start yelling it out. Whoever guessed right got to go up… I have always tried my luck with the number 7, but it has never turned out to be lucky…ever! So this time, I went with 13. Some of you may know that I am a HUGE Taylor Swift fan and her lucky number is 13. She writes it on her hand before every concert. And hello, we WERE in Nashville!

I starting yelling it out immediately and he let everyone guess for about 30 seconds, but most people were guessing a bunch of different ones… I just stuck with my lucky number 13! When Maurice asked “Who said 13?” My mouth dropped and my cousin and Robin screamed “Sara!!” As soon as I stood up I had the biggest smile on my face, trying to manage my excitement and shock at once… I went to his event without thinking this was even in the realm of possibility. He gave me a hug when I got up there, then the script, mic, and said “You ready??” God, he was so much fun! I just looked around for a couple seconds, still in shock, then said, “Wow, yeah… I’m ready.” Like I said before, he played it really charming with the first lady… which is how it is supposed to go with S&B (you’ll see where it says it on the script). But with me, for the first couple lines he got right in my face, like inches away (OMG) and making eye contact with him was just… WOW. We’ve always known this, but I can’t even put into words just *how* INTENSE he is. It’s like a whole new understanding!

The whole time I was trying not to shake. My lips were on the verge of twitching from trying to keep my hands still, LOL. With me he played it more as confrontational Sonny, so I gave him attitude back while maintaining eye contact, and when I first did he seemed a little surprised, paused to smile and say to everyone something like “uh oh, listen this girl!” When we were finished he went to put his copy down, and I was like “Hey, wait! You need to sign my copy!” still with same attitude from the scene… he is just so easy to have fun with! He grinned, I honestly I can’t remember what he said at this point–he definitely responded something that made everyone laugh, and I said “Please.” Haha then he asked my name…. I told him “Sara, NO H!” Everyone laughed, and he looked around and said “You hear this girl? I love her!”
I almost died.
He signed, handed it to me and said, “Here you go Sara– with NO H!” This is what it says at the bottom of my of my very own S&B scene script:
“To Sara,
Love you
Maurice Benard”
Before I gave him the mic back, I HAD to say something about how I feel about S&B… I told him and everyone that I am a HUGE S&B fan and that I absolutely love them. SO many people clapped and cheered in support of our couple. It was the best!!!!!!

Nooow, onto the actual script of the S&B scene that we did (this is word for word from the script, exactly how it’s typed… my comments are in italics!):

Cut To:

[C] MOB OFFICE – DAY
(SONNY, BRENDA)

SONNY’S WARM AND CHARMING. (LOL, didn’t expect the script to say that at the top)

SONNY: So you think I can’t be calm or reasonable? That hurts.

BRENDA: You were so angry after the hearing and now… what changed?

SONNY: I thought some things through last night. And I realized that if you and I fight about this, we’re playing right into Jax’s hands.

BRENDA: What about Carly? Why was she here? (asked the way we want our Brenda to ask, with attitude! As soon as I read Carly’s name, I could not help myself… Haha)

SONNY: She’s devastated. Any mother would be. But I’m not married to Carly. I’m married to you. (SLIPPING HIS ARMS AROUND HER)<—- This obviously was crossed out beforehand lol, but I could read through where they did) And I’m sorry I left you alone last night. (When we did the scene, instead he *yelled* that he does NOT care about Carly and that she’s not his wife! Haha something like, “Why are you talking about Carly?? Who cares about Carly!! She’s not my WIFE, you are!” )

BRENDA: So tell me more about this little apartment downtown. (This is where I got the most attitude with him, lol, because it seriously made me mad!! He got rid of CITA but has a little apartment downtown? WTF!)

SONNY: (TEASING) Why? Do you think I have a mistress?
BRENDA STUDIES HIS FACE.

BRENDA: I know you don’t. I trust your love for me. And I’m so glad you can finally trust my love for you.

(AS THEY FOLD INTO A KISS…) <—Another thing crossed out beforehand that I could read through after a bit of light adjustments! Haha

He was just SO easy to have fun with, very down-to-earth, great energy, awesome sense of humor… just a genuinely NICE guy!!

 

When I was in the VIP line, the pictures were 10 dollars. I picked one of the newer ones, and I heard Paula saying to one of the girls “Aw, your dad thought more people would choose his first headshot..” I turned back around and was like, “OMG, I didn’t know that was his first headshot! I’ll take that one instead..” She made a comment about how it was older than me, LOL, I said something like”Oh no, no, that’s fine! I just didn’t realize it was his official first one… So she told me to take both. Such a nice, nice family. There was this really drunk lady in front of me that leaned over to the girls and said, slurring, “Your dad is HOT…” They giggled, elbowing each other, the expression on Paula’s face was priceless… I was just like, “You guys must see a lot,” as the security guy escorted her away. Paula just nodded.

After the show at the meet and greet, I was like, “Heeey, it’s me again!” LOL he smiled and gave me a big hug, I was like “I loved doing that and hope you didn’t think I was for real bitchy or anything, it was for the scene!” He laughed and put his hand on my shoulder then said, “No, no… that’s what I LIKE!!” I of course started giggling and narrowly avoided sudden death from his awesomeness. Then we took our pictures. I got another hug when we were done and told him I had gone to his event in NJ 8 years ago where I met Melissa (he called her an angel…awww), Vani, and other S&Bers… Told him how I still talk to the same S&Bers years later, and we’ll never give up. He said that I should go to another event on this tour… I was like “Yeah, I wish!!

 

 

A huge thank you to Sara and Maurice for such a great recap & pictures! I can’t wait for my event on Sunday in East Rutherford, NJ w/ #Team.

TTFN… Until next Monday or Tuesday with my recap! xoxo

Bittersweet

Bittersweet… Today is Vanessa’s last day filming as Brenda Barrett Corinthos. While we are taking the time to celebrate the ride and staving off our tears for another 6 weeks, I know by the end of today the SnBers along with VMG will have tears.

This has been an amazing ride… From the moment Brenda showed up on Julia’s doorstep looking for her inheritance to however she leaves in about 6 weeks will leave imprints on all of our hearts. Something about Brenda, maybe her spunk, her drive, her spirit, her passion, her aura.. You can’t pick one and you can’t discount whatever personal Vanessa added to the role. Brenda ALWAYS made me feel how she was feeling, the happiness, longing for a family & belonging, passion, love, sorrow and camaraderie… I connected with this character. At that time of my life I was about 20 years old. I saw a lot of myself in Brenda and could relate. Especially on wanting to be with and loving the guy she couldn’t have— because of circumstances not lack of love. I fell in love with Brenda, already loved Sonny and when they officially met on the docks & their hands and eyes met….. WOW, was I a goner.

Fast forward several years… skip past the Wire & Lily who ripped my heart in a zillion pieces and made me feel such sorrow I never felt before, skip over the wedding that never was where I felt like my world crashed down around me… and of course, skip past where Brenda “died” and Sonny sat at his table in island house telling Jason “I’ll die seeing her face and it never occurred to me, she’d die first.” Then  “I can’t be with her again except when I sleep and then I’m with her all the time…Dreaming of Brenda is the worse because when I wake up she’s not there…I know you want to help, but you can’t.”

Suddenly, spoiler-free and not internet addicted, Vanessa and Brenda appeared on my tv again in September 2002. Amazing Grace was such a fantastic arc that should have been about SnB getting back together but the stars were not aligned that season. I always heard there’s a time and place for everything and I held out hope. We were heartbroken a few times already and when she left in 2003, it was almost the worst because, we, as a fanbase had very little. It was so sad to see Jason leave Brenda at the airport where she looked so small, broken and ultimately alone. It broke my heart for her.

For me, Vanessa has always shown through in her Brenda scenes, as does Maurice. To me, no one else could ever be Sonny and Brenda except for Maurice and Vanessa. They are the essence of the characters, they have the heart of their story, kept in their own hearts and souls. They shine when they are together and when separate, something is missing… Must be their acting-karmic better halves… They were both born to play Sonny and Brenda.

Last year, almost exactly a year ago, we had the triumphant news about Vanessa returning to GH. This year has been a unbelieveable ride.. Full of glee, frustration, love, exhilaration, anger, confusion and overwhelming happiness. We have a gorgeous reconnection between Sonny and Brenda that led to an engagement and ultimately a wedding of epic proportions. I was in awe of their beauty & chemistry. I had hopes our Vanessa would decide to stay, even if it was recurring. But, it just didn’t work out that way. Vanessa has a ton of exciting ventures on her plate. You can read more here: http://vanessaconnection.com/ She is working on a children’s series & books & clothing line for kids. Maybe one day she’ll be back… Hopefully to escort our Sonny off canvas with a little love & reconnection story before the end.

Vanessa tweeted a couple of pics for the SnBers….Both Vanessa and Maurice are having fan events at GHFCW and here are the ways you can get tickets: (please click on images to make them larger)

Please go to the events, support both Maurice and Vanessa and do let them know you are members of the Sonny and Brenda Forum. I wish I could go, but sadly I have no babysitter for a long weekend in L.A. I will have a few SnBers who will tweet, text, phone call, email and send pictures to me from the weekend, and in particular, V&M’s events.

Please continue to watch, Brenda has about 6 more weeks in Port Charles and Sonny will remain in town (hehe) for sometime. After B goes, please continue to watch and support Maurice.

TTFN xoxo ~Ro